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THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




A Simple Mansion at Fkee Acres 



THREE ACRES 



AND 



LIBERTY 



BY 



BOLTON HALL 

AUTHOR OF 
THINGS AS THEY ARE," "THRIFT," ETC 



REVISED EDITION 



**A sower went out to sow, and he sowed that which was in his heart 
— for what can a man sow else!" From "the game of life." 

Or, 05 the Vulgate has it, — 

"Exiit qui seminal seminare semen suum.** 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1918 

All righU reserved 






COPYBIOHT, 190T AND 1918, 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1907. 
Reprinted April, July, 1907; March, 1908; June, 
September, 1910; April, 1912; April, 1914. 



New edition, revised February, 1918, 



FEB 141918 



NortDooti iPre00 

J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A481707 



FOREWORD 

We are not tied to a desk or to a bench ; we stay there 
only because we think we are tied. 

In Montana I had a horse, which was hobbled every 
night to keep him from wandering ; that is, straps joined by 
a short chain were put around his forefeet, so that he could 
only hop. The hobbles were taken off in the morning, but 
he would still hop until he saw his mate trotting off. 

This book is intended to show how any one can trot off 
if he will. 

It is not a textbook ; there are plenty of good textbooks, 
which are referred to herein. Intensive cultivation cannot 
be comprised in any one book. 

It shows what is needed for a city man or woman to sup- 
port a family on the proceeds of a little bit of land ; it shows 
how in truth, as the old Book prophesied, the earth brings 
forth abundantly after its kind to satisfy the desire of every 
living thing. It is not necessary to bury oneself in the 
country, nor, with the new facilities of transportation, need 
we, unless we wish to, pay the extravagant rents and 
enormous cost of living in the city. A little bit of land 
near the town or the city can be rented or bought on 
easy terms ; and merchandising will bring one to the city 
often enough. Neither is hard labor needed; but it is to 
work alone that the earth yields her increase, and if, although 
unskilled, we would succeed in gardening, we must attend 
constantly and intelligently to the home acres. 

Every chapter of this book has been revised by a specialist, 



vi THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

and the authors wish to express their appreciation of the aid 
given them, particularly by Mr. E. H. Moore, Arboricul- 
turist in the Brooklyn Department of Parks ; Mr. CoUing- 
wood of the Rural New Yorker and Mr. George T. Powell ; 
and to thank Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, and also Mr. 
Joseph Morwitz, for many valuable suggestions; also all 
those from whom we have quoted directly or in substance. 

We have endeavored in the text to give full acknowledg- 
ment to all, but in some cases it has been impossible to credit 
to the originator every paragraph or thought, since these 
have been selected and placed as needed, believing that all 
true teachers and gardeners are more anxious to have their 
message sent than to be seen delivering it. 

In truth, teaching is but another department of gardening. 

Practical points and criticisms from practical men and 
women, especially from those experiences in trying to get to 
the land, will be welcomed by the authors. Address in care 
of the publishers. 

The Report of the Country Life Commission, with Special 
Message from the President of the United States, is especially 
important as showing the connection of Intensive Cultiva- 
tion with Thrift for war time. 

It tells us that : 

"The handicaps (on getting out of town) that we now 
have specially in mind may be stated under four heads : 
Speculative holding of lands; monopolistic control of 
streams; wastage and monopolistic control of forests; re- 
straint of trade. 

"Certain landowners procure large areas of agricultural 
land in the most available location, sometimes by question- 
able methods, and hold it for speculative purposes. This 
not only withdraws the land itself from settlement, but in 



FOREWORD vii 

many cases prevents the development of an agricultural 
community. The smaller landowners are isolated and un- 
able to establish their necessary institutions or to reach the 
market. The holding of large areas by one party tends to 
develop a system of tenantry and absentee farming. The 
whole development may be in the direction of social and 
economic ineffectiveness. 

"A similar problem arises in the utilization of swamp lands. 
According to the reports of the Geological Survey, there are 
more than 75,000,000 acres of swamp land in this country, 
the greater part of which are capable of reclamation at prob- 
ably a nominal cost as compared to their value. It is im- 
portant to the development of the best type of country life 
that the reclamation proceed under conditions insuring sub- 
division into small farms and settlement by men who would 
both own them and till them. 

^- "Some of these lands are near the centers of population. 
They become a menace to health, and they often prevent the 
development of good social conditions in very large areas. 
As a rule they are extremely fertile. They are capable of 
sustaining an agricultural population numbering many mil- 
lions, and the conditions under which these millions must 
live are a matter of national concern. The Federal Govern- 
ment should act to the fullest extent of its constitutional 
powers in the reclamation of these lands under proper safe- 
guards against speculative holding and landlordism. 

"The rivers are valuable to the farmers as drainage lines, 
as irrigation supply, as carriers and equalizers of transporta- 
tion rates, as a readily available power resource, and for rais- 
ing food fish. The wise development of these and other uses 
is important to both agricultural and other interests ; their 
protection from monopoly is one of the first responsibilities 



viii THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

of government. The streams belong to the people; under 
a proper system of development their resources would remain 
an estate of all the people, and become available as needed. 

"River transportation is not usually antagonistic to rail- 
way interests. Population and production are increasing 
rapidly, with corresponding increase in the demands made 
on transportation facilities. It may be reasonably expected 
that the river will eventually carry a large part of the freight 
that does not require prompt delivery, while the railway 
will carry that requiring expedition.< * This is already fore- 
seen by leading railway men; and its importance to the 
farmer is such that he should encourage and aid, by every 
means in his power, the large use of the rivers. The coun- 
try will produce enough business to tax both streams and 
railroads to their utmost. 

"In many regions the streams afford facilities for power, 
which, since the inauguration of electrical transmission, is 
available for local rail lines and offers the best solution of 
local transportation problems. In many parts of the coun- 
try local and interurban lines are providing transportation 
to farm areas, thereby increasing facilities for moving crops 
and adding to the profit and convenience of farm life. How- 
ever, there seems to be a very general lack of appreciation 
of the possibilities of this water-power resource as governing 
transportation costs. 

"The streams may be also used as small water power on 
thousands of farms. This is particularly true of small 
streams. Much of the labor about the house and barn can 
be performed by transmission of power from small water 
wheels running on the farms themselves or in the neighbor- 
hood. This power could be used for electric lighting and 
for small manufacture. It is more important that small 



FOREWORD ix 

power be developed on the farms of the United States than 
that we harness Niagara. 

"Unfortunately, the tendency of the present laws is to 
encourage the acquisition of these resources on easy terms, 
or on their own terms, by the first applicants, and the 
power of the streams is rapidly being acquired under condi- 
tions that lead to the concentration of ownership in the hands 
of the monopolies. This constitutes a real and immediate 
danger, not to the country-life interests alone, but to the 
entire nation, and it is time that the whole people become 
aroused to it. 

"The forests have been exploited for private gain not 
only until the timber has been seriously reduced, but until 
streams have been ruined for navigation, power, irrigation, 
and common water supplies, and whole regions have been 
exposed to floods and disastrous soil erosion. Probably 
there has never occurred a more reckless destruction of 
property that of right should belong to all the people. 

"The wood-lot property of the country needs to be saved 
and increased. Wood-lot yield is one of the most important 
crops of the farms, and is of great value to the public in 
controlling streams, saving the run-off, checking winds, and 
adding to the attractiveness of the region. [Taken up in a 
special chapter of this book.] 

"In many regions where poor and hilly lands prevail, the 
town or county could well afford to purchase forest land, 
expecting thereby to add to the value of the property and 
to make the forests a source of revenue. Such communal 
forests in Europe yield revenue to the cities and towns by 
which they are owned and managed." 

These revenues would furnish good roads even in the 
poorest and most sparsely settled districts. 



X THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

There are a number of other reasons why people do not 
like to live outside of cities — or do not succeed in farm 
work. There is the dijQBculty of finding help. This, how- 
ever, rejoices the heart of the modern sociologist. Consider 
— we first teach our children independence and train them for 
everything but farm help or household services. Then we 
degrade the "help" below a mill "hand" so that people will 
not even sit at table with them at an hotel. Next we fix 
a theory of conduct for them that keeps them constantly 
under orders and pay them wages that make it hardly pos- 
sible for them to rise above the station to which we have 
appointed them. 

Finally, when we move away from the haunts of men out 
to Sandtown-by-the-Puddle we blame them that they do not 
rush to join us. Most of them would be happier in penal 
servitude than in the country. The work is as hard and re- 
quires as much skill as a mechanic's work, besides personal 
qualities that are demanded of no mechanic, and commands 
half its wages. 

Those who, like Henry Ford, can afford to pay mechanics* 
wages for help can get all they want. 

Many people go to the country without plan, preparation, 
or vocation, to make a living. They usually start to build 
a bungalow but seldom get further than the bungle. Don't 
build anything without plan. Get a comfortable house 
proof against cold and heat as soon as possible and, above 
all, well ventilated. At present the air in the country is 
good, because the farmers shut all the bad air up in their 
bedrooms. 

They say 

" The farmer works from sun to sun 
For the summer's work is never done." 



FOREWORD xi 

We might add, it's never even half done — naturally. A 
donkey engine can work like that, but then it hasn't any 
brains. No man can work from sun to sun all summer and 
think at all or be good for anything at the end of it. 

Above all things don't work long hours, even in learning, 
with the idea of saving that way. All up-to-date employers 
are agreed that an eight-hour day produces more and better 
results than a ten-hour day and that a twelve-hour day brings 
sherijffs and suicides instead of profits. 

That's just as true of the individual worker as it is of the 
factory "hand." Yet most men and a few women proudly 
say that they "work like a horse" (it's usually not true). 
They don't ; a horse won't work and can't work over eight 
hours a day steadily. Neither can you : you may keep 
buzzing around much longer — but the best work requires 
the best conditions and the best hours. You think, or you 
flatter yourself that you think, that it is necessary; but 
nothing is necessary that is stupid and wrong. It is hardly 
too much to say that when we are tired out or ill either we 
have been doing the wrong thing or doing it wrong. 

There is besides, as an anti-rusticant, railroad discrimina- 
tion in favor of long hauls, but the main reason that the small 
farms of the Eastern Coast are less settled than those farther 
west is the great difficulty in getting farm loans or loans on 
farm buildings. New York companies and others in the 
great cities will loan on farms west of the Alleghenies, but 
even the otherwise excellent eastern Building Loan Asso- 
ciations usually restrict themselves to places within twenty- 
five miles of a city. The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial 
Aid Society will help approved Jewish farmers to buy and 
build : and there is a Federal Land Bank in Springfield, 
Mass., which lends to some Farmers' Associations, of which 



xii THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

some four thousand are already formed. It is hoped that 
the State Land Bank of New York City may improve the 
situation in New York for Farmers' Organizations, but 
" generally nearly all available funds of the local banks seem 
to be drawn off for investments in Wall Street." 

However, it is not to be forgotten that this diflficulty is 
reflected in the lower prices of eastern Land. 

One more thing that keeps many people from the country 
and drives some people back to the city is the mosquito (of 
course there are mosquitoes in town, but we are not out as 
much, so we notice them less). Mosquitoes breed or rather 
we breed them, in still water in which there are no fish, in 
pools, hollows in trees, wells, etc., and above all in old tin 
cans. They can no more breed without water than sharks 
could. 

Mosquitoes do not breed in grass, but rank growths of 
weeds or grass may conceal small breeding puddles, and 
form a favorite nursery for Mamma Skeet. A teacupful 
of water standing ten days is enough for 250 wrigglers; 
their needs are modest. 

Different species of mosquitoes have as well-defined hab- 
its as other birds and are classified as follows : Domestic, 
Migratory, and Woodland. 

The common domestic or pet species breed in fresh water, 
usually in the house yard, fly comparatively short distances, 
and habitually enter houses. They winter in cellars, barns, 
and outhouses. Some of them are conveyors of malaria. 

The Migratory Species breed on the salt marshes, fly long 
distances, do not habitually enter houses, and are not carriers 
of diseases so far as known. 

Certain varieties of Woodland Mosquitoes breed only in 
woodland pools, appearing in the early spring, and travel a 



FOREWORD xiii 

greater distance than the domestic species. They are not 
usually troublesome indoors. 

It has been proved that malaria is transmitted only by 
certain species of Anopheles, one of which is the domestic 
mosquito. Eliminate this one species of mosquito and the 
disease will disappear as a direct consequence. So if you 
hear that pretty little song in the house, don't swear, thank 
the Lord that effects always follow causes. You need never 
be without a bite in the house if you have a nice cesspool 
handy for Sis Mosquito, for each one will have a first-class 
feed with you every second or third day. 

They are needless and dangerous pests or pets. Their 
propagation can be prevented by draining or filling wet 
areas, by emptying or screening water receptacles, and by 
spraying with oil where better measures are not available. 
Oil should be sprinkled in any cesspools, sewers, and catch 
basins, rain barrels, water troughs, roof gutters, marshes, 
swamps, and puddles that cannot be done away with. All 
ponds and large bodies of water should have clean sharp 
edges, because in shallow, grassy edges larvae of the malarial 
species are commonly found. Large ponds with clean edges, 
inhabited by fish or predatory insects, are safe ; smaller ponds, 
if wind swept, and all ponds in the " ripple area " are safe. All 
rain pools, stagnant gutters, overgrown edges of large ponds, 
and all receptacles holding water not constantly renewed, are 
dangerous. You raise most of your own mosquitoes. 

Now a word specially concerning this revised edition. 
^ The farm papers are supported mainly by men with large 
acreage, it is the rise in value of these acres more than the 
rise in farm products that has pulled the land-owning farmers 
out of the hole that they were in up to about the year 1900. 
Farmers' knowledge, liking, and equipment was for big 



xiv THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

fields, half cultivated, and at first they did not like to hear 
that they had been wasting so much of the labor that had 
bent their backs. Nor did they want to hear that it would 
have been far more profitable to them to have cultivated a 
few acres and left the goats and hogs or sheep to attend to 
the rest as wild land until the long-expected settlers came 
along to buy the land at dreamland prices. 

Consequently, all the faults in the book there were, and 
some more besides, have been picked out by these critics. It 
is surprising as well as a notable compliment to the agricul- 
tural experts who revised the first edition that, with one ex- 
ception, no material error or omission has been pointed out. 

The more so because there is absolutely no limit to the 
advances in methods and results in doing things, and in 
growing things, all born of intelligent toil. Your suggestions 
may help the world to better and bigger things. If you w^ill 
listen at the 'phone you may sometime hear a conversation 
like this : 

"Hello, this is Mrs. Wise, send me two strawberries, 
please." "You'd better take three. Madam, I've none 
larger than peaches to-day." "All right; good-bye." 

You may sometime see that kind of strawberry in New 
Jersey at Kevitt's Athenia, or Henry Joralamon's, or in 
the berry known by various names, such as Giant and dif- 
ferent Joe's. But lots of people have failed in their war 
garden work even on common things; lots more ought to 
have failed but haven't — yet. Years ago, we, the book and 
its helpers, started the forward-to-the-land movement which 
has resulted in probably two million extra garden patches 
this w^ar year. I have had carloads of letters, at least hand 
carloads, about the book, but not one worker who even 
tried to follow its counsels has reported failure. 



FOREWORD XV 

So don't let us have a wail from you because your " garden 
stuff never comes up." Of course it doesn't ; you have to 
bring it up, just like a baby. That's what I've been crying 
for long years in the wilderness ever since the first edition 
of this book. The Three Acres may be bought on credit 
but eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty and crops. To 
raise good crops costs time and attention and sweat of body 
and of brains. 

Here is a chunk of wisdom out of the excellent Garden 
Primer (which you can get free by asking me for it) : 

"One hour a day spent in a garden ten yards long by 
seven wide will supply vegetables enough for a family of 
six" ; but the value of this remark lies in the application of 
it. If you figure a bit on that you will find that ten minutes 
a day will provide enough for one person, but six hours once 
a week won't do. Six hours a day will bring up a baby; 
but two days a week is criminal neglect for the other five 
days. If you once let the weeds get a good start, say after 
a rain, they will make even the angels swear. It's regular 
attention that the baby and the garden and your education 
and your best girl will require. 

If you want more minute instructions about how to grow 
each vegetable, put in words that anybody can understand 
without getting a headache or a dictionary, look up "The 
Garden Yard" by the Author. It is in nearly all libraries 
now, and it is the only book that makes perfectly plain every- 
thing that a plain man needs to know about growing plain 
things. 

So there is little to add in this new edition except to rein- 
force what was not strong enough. In the present jumping 
market to revise the prices quoted would be absurd, but it 
may be noted that, as in the prices of flowers, the minimum 



xvi THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

prices are still about correct, but the maximum prices have 
jumped almost out of sight. Every year there are more 
and more very wealthy people who will pay nearly any 
price for the very best. The world seems to be dividing into 
those who have to count their pennies and those who couldn't 
count their thousands. Of course, where war has prohibited 
the importation of the strong bulbs and roots needed for 
forcing flowers, the prices are about what any one who has 
any chooses to ask. Monopoly can always get its own price. 

This New Edition does not attempt to bring prices quoted 
up to date. In these times not even a stock exchange tele- 
graph ticker can do that. Prices of goods in general have 
advanced at least 80 per cent. By the day that this book is 
off the press they may have decreased, or more likely ad- 
vanced some more. The next day they may slump. Prices 
of labor advance more slowly and do not slump so fast. 
Wages of men gardeners have risen perhaps 50 per cent in the 
last ten years, but women and children have learned to do 
much of the work. They do the work cheaper because 
most of them have some one on whom they can partly depend 
for support. 

Similarly, when an example of total product given in the 
earlier edition is still typical and has stood investigation, it 
is not discarded in favor of a more modern instance. 

It would have been easy to have revised all the figures, 
but of little advantage to our readers. For example, it is 
encouraging to the citizen to know that the average wheat 

There is a chance for big money growing those vigorous stocks at 
home. Many a woman could learn to do it in her room. Don't 
try to sell the bulbs, grow the lilies and sell those ; a few at ten dol- 
lars per dozen will go a great way. When you know all about it, 
then go to the country to do it on a commercial scale. Wait till you 
have learned : it won't take all your time. 



FOREWORD xvii 

yield per acre has increased more than two bushels since the 
first edition of this book, but it would not help the garden 
maker. The increase of possible products tends to counter- 
balance the increased cost of labor. So only the musty 
parts have been cut out of the book, which is more needed 
now than ever. 



i 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

MAKING A LIVING WHERE AND HOW 

The necessity of teaching better methods in agriculture to relieve 
the problems of our day. The drift toward cities. Natural con- 
ditions. 

The possibilities of an acre — in potatoes. Large acreages a 
mistake. Labor and expense of cultivating large areas. Culti- 
vation contrasted with Bonanza farms. 

Small acreage farms in Japan, Denmark, etc., and what they 
produce. Small acreage in school gardens and vacant lots. Gentle- 
men farmers. City and country coming together. 

CHAPTER II 

PRESENT CONDITIONS 

America an agricultural country up to the Civil War. Attracted 
to the West by Government lands. South the center of slave 
agriculture. Cheap land kept up wages. War and hard times — 
changed conditions. South crushed — Central West growing. 
Railways — forcing people from the land to the cities — aided by 
competition of western land. Climax now ; must find remedy for 
aUenation. 

Where land is idle — in the East. Result of railroad discrimina- 
tion shown in values. First step is railroad control. Cause of 
relegation, railroad rates. Affects Pennsylvania and Ohio. Gross 
inequalities in freight charges; Mississippi Valley better. In- 
creasing market in South. These furnish opportunity of getting 
people to land. New fields. 

CHAPTER III 

HOW TO BUY THE FARM 

Principles. Points. Low and high-priced land. Conserva- 
tive investment. Suburban lands. Real estate agents aid — un- 
explored opportunities. 

'xix 



XX TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IV 

VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 

Lessons for the intensive cultivator — of poor land. The effect 
upon physical, mental, and moral health — illustrated. A farm 
educator — in voluntary cooperation. In Europe. School gardens. 
Patriotic gardens. Preparing them. Wonderful production. 
Your opportunity. 

CHAPTER V 

RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 

Overproduction not to be feared. Dr. Engel's "law" in scien- 
tific farming. Fallacy of this. The information needed as to 
prospects. Eastern or western land. The area required. A be- 
ginner's experience. Necessity of intelligence and personal appli- 
cation. How to use a small area. The poet's "little farm." 
Classical examples. Price changes since the first editions of 
"Three Acres." The returns from small acreages. In the United 
States — in Scotland. Schoolroom boxes. A new winter plan. 
A garden on a tray. Standards of yields needed. 

CHAPTER VI 

WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 

Truck — the most advanced farming experience. Time required 
to work an acre. Product of it. U. S. instances in various places. 
Average crops. Product of an acre in specialties. Good products 
compared with averages. A living and more. 

CHAPTER VII 

SOME METHODS 

Safety in diversified crops. When to plant. Times for selling. 
Realizing cash. Cultivation in rows. Companion crop plan. 
Cultivation raises price of your land. Profits. Produce in Europe. 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE KITCHEN GARDEN 

For domestic use. Location: treatment. Begin in fall. Size 
and arrangement. Fruit. Reasonable results. Cost and profit. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxi 

CHAPTER IX 

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT 

Implements needed and cost. How to care for them. Books as 
a part of the outfit. Bucolic advice inefficient. Must get our own 
experience. Specializing. Seed. Preparation of land. Thorough- 
ness. 

CHAPTER X 

ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 

Small capital can compete with large. Manure. Commercial 
fertilizers. We waste and then buy. Cost — and increase of re- 
turns. Soil inoculation. Irrigation. Use of water abroad — pros- 
pects for the United States. Sewage utilization better than irriga- 
tion. Cultivation is irrigation. 

"The American desert." Dry farming and its new crops. 
Spraying. 

How much money is necessary. Tropics not so good a field as 
home. Facilities here. Available lands attracted first develop- 
ment. The markets. 

CHAPTER XI 

HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 

An early start. How to make simple hotbeds. An old-fashioned 
way. Artificial heat. Use of frames. Instances of production — 
returns. The best greenhouse — a substitute. Estimated cost. 
Methods of heating. 

CHAPTER XII 

OTHER USES OP LAND 

Poultry and its difficulties as a business — the reason. Profit- 
able on a small scale. Ducks — growing in favor — don't need a 
pond. Belgian hares — fluctuation of the business. Pigeons. Bee- 
keeping and the returns. Small capital required. Yield. Labor 
and area required. Method — results — how to start. 

Mushrooms in America. Better done in Europe. Where grown. 
Causes of failure. A little land for pleasure. 



xxii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIII 

FRUITS 

Specializing or diversifying. Money in the best. Apples, con- 
ditions. Peaches, grapes, plums, etc. Yield of cherries, currants, 
etc. Strawberries. Animal free lunchers. Wild berries. Nuts. 

CHAPTER XIV 

FLOWERS 

Popular flowers: glass. The capital needed. Shipping. 
Chances of success. A woman's violet farm — its methods — 
enemies. Chrysanthemums. Poppies. Street sales of flowers; 
common flowers. 

Orchids. Ferns. Shrubs, etc. Bulbs. The prospects. 

CHAPTER XV 

DRUG PLANTS 

Gathering wild drugs. Scarcity of some. Ginseng. Difficulties 
of growing these plants. Preparing them for market — roots, 
leaves, flowers. Selling. Demand and variable prices — for vari- 
ous sorts. New branches. Edible weeds. 

CHAPTER XVI 

NOVEL LIVE STOCK 

Frog culture — product and value. Carp — ease of raising. 
Bass ; how raised. Pheasants — bred like poultry. Home birds. 
Table-snails — treatment. Silkworms — methods. 

Dogs. Cats a better venture. Wild fauna — for our own eat- 
ing. Hunting skins. Raising "wild" animals. Foxes, etc. 

CHAPTER XVII 

WHERE TO GO 

Near the market — for intensive cultivation. Swamps or worn- 
out farms profitable. Opportunities in "York State" — descrip- 
tions — prices. Wages there. Long Island — opening up for 
cultivation — character. Openings in New Jersey — abundance. 
Soils — uses. Cheap land. Exceptional transportation facili- 
ties. In Delaware: for fruit. Land coming into market. 
Soils — description — wages. Arresting fruit pickers. Fauna. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxiii 

In Maryland : Bureaus of Immigration. Varied types of land — 
productivity. Prices at canneries. Tobacco land. Virginia — 
changed aspect. Attractions to acre cultivators, fertile soil. 
Transportation. Produce — instances. New England — some of 
the cheapest lands. Availability. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CLEARING THE LAND 

The ax. Don't destroy recMessly. Shade. Stump extracting. 
How it has been done. Good management. Expense saving. 
Product, Hemp as a weed extirpator. The man with the wheel 
hoe. Goats also. 

CHAPTER XIX 

HOW TO BUILD 

Start cheaply. Tents — shacks — cost. A log house — de- 
tails. The American bungalow — description and cost. Ad- 
vantages. A finer house — at a low price — details. Ready- 
made houses. 

CHAPTER XX 

BACK TO THE LAND 

The landless man. Corporate aid — still new to the farmer. 
A change coming. To supply small farms on a large scale. Plan 
and prospects. Advantages. The present obstacles to getting 
farms. , Necessity of keeping families in the country. Buying 
farm tracts to sell at retail. Texas plan. 

CHAPTER XXI 

COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 

Authorities. Country life for children. The natural bent. A 
boy's own farm, his instruction. Growing facilities. Opportuni- 
ties, as teachers and experts. Their influence. Rewards of pre- 
eminent excellence. "Murray's fools." The needs of the farmer. 

Discoveries and their opportunities — examples. Experimen- 
tation. Fancy potatoes — for fancy growers in England. Value 
of fine seed — of fine education in farming. A clergyman's refuge 



xxiv TABLE OF CONTENTS 

in farming — results. The rewards of labor and thought put into 
land. 

CHAPTER XXII 

THE WOOD LOT 

Possible income from improving. Preserving its character. 
Setting out trees. Value as pasture — shade. Fire ; burning leaves. 
State nurseries. Taxation of forests. 

CHAPTER XXIII 

V 

SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 

Agricultural Department bulletins — get knowledge. The 
mysteries of potatoes. Roof gardens. Mint. Raising seeds. 
Warm bath stimulation. Overhead irrigation. The coming sub- 
stitute for the horse. 

CHAPTER XXIV 

SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 

The law of necessity. Novel menus. Substitutes for "garden 
sass." To lower cost of living. Soy beans — vegetable milk. 
Fresh salads. Wild food at home. Increasing need of food. Select- 
ing new varieties — adaptations to climate. 

CHAPTER XXV 

DRIED TRUCK 

Food conservation. Revival of old ways. New methods of 
canning. Home dried vegetables and fruits — the how and why. 
Blanching, etc. Frozen potatoes. Saving and sales. Tank ice. 

CHAPTER XXVI 

HOME COLD PACK CANNING 

War economy. The easiest way. Its use. No "boughten" 
outfit needed. -Cheap containers. 

CHAPTER XXVII 

RETAIL COOPERATION 

Farmers ahead. Cooperation in selling in U. S. Delivering 
milk. The New Orleans stores. Plan and scope. A proved 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxv 

success. Good business chances waiting for you. Distribution 
neglected — the remedy. 

To promote wholesale return to the land — on a business basis. 
Project of the plan. For invalids. 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 

Our Department of Education's report on "Arbor Gardens." 
Private enterprise. Necessity the mother of institutions. Berhn 
and our cities. Collective action. Vast extent of the Bower 
plots. Results. Alleviation of German poverty. Forest schools. 
England's advance to the land — a war fruit. The Spirit in the 
Garden. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

A Simple Mansion at Free Acres . . . . . Frontispiece ^ 

OPPOSITE PAGE ^ 

A Real (-estate) Argument 20 

These Kiddies Have to Go Shares . . . . . . 44 " 

The Wheel-hoe in Action 190 ^ 

A Roof Garden — Strawberries 226 

.y 

'* Overhead Irrigation '! by Pipes 230 

The Smallest Farm Tractor 231 

A Drying-frame 244 



XXVll 



THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

CHAPTER I 

MAKING A LIVING — WHERE AND HOW 

By thought and courage, we can help ourselves to own 
a home, surrounded by acres of fruit and vegetables, flowers 
and poultry, and learn the best methods so as to insure 
success. 

In olden times any one could ''farm," but it is necessary 
to-day to teach people to obtain a livelihood directly from 
the earth. Scientific methods of agriculture have revealed 
possibilities in the soil that make farming the most fascinat- 
ing occupation known to man. People in every city are 
longing for the freedom of country life, yet hesitate to enter 
into its liberty because no one points the way. 

Most sociologists are agreed that the great problem of our 
day is to stop the drift of population toward the cities. 
Seeing the overcrowding, the want and misery of our great 
towns, the philanthropist chimes in with "Get the people 
to the country, that is the need." 

But there is no such need. Man is a social animal, he 
naturally goes in flocks, he earns more and learns more in 
crowds. To transport him to the country, even if he would 
stay, which happily he won't, would be to doctor a symptom. 
As in typhoid, what is needed is not to suppress the fever, 
that is easy, but to remove the cause of it. 

B 1 



2 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

It is not the growth of the cities that we want to check, 
but the needless want and misery in the cities, and this can 
be done by restoring the natural condition of living, and 
among other things, by showing that it is easier and making 
it more attractive to live in comfort on the outskirts of the 
city as producers, than in the slums as paupers. 

We know already that the natural and healthy life is, that 
in the sweat of our faces we should eat bread. We observe 
that everything we eat or use or make comes from the earth 
by labor; but no one knows how abundantly the Mother 
can supply her children. It is well said that no mian yet 
knows the capacity of a square yard of earth. 

The farmer thinks that he has done well if he gets a hun- 
dred and fifty or two hundred bushels of potatoes from an 
acre ; he does not know that others have gotten 1284 bushels.^ 

Let us realize what an acre means. An acre is a square 
about 209 feet each way, 4840 square yards of land. A 
New York City avenue block is about 200 feet long from 
house corner to house corner. It has eight city lots 25 X 
100 in its front ; about double that space (17f lots) makes 
an acre. 

An ordinary one-horse cart holds twenty bushels, so then 
a full crop of potatoes from that space would fill 56 carts. 

To raise potatoes as an ordinary farmer raises them, re- 
quires him to go over the ground not less than a dozen times, 
plowing, harrowing, marking, planting, cultivating, three 

1 "Mr. Knight, whose name is well known to every horticulturist 
in England, once dug out of his fields no less than 1284 bushels of 
potatoes, or thirty-four tons and nine hundreds weight (about 34 
bushels to the ton), on a single acre; and at a recent competition 
in Minnesota, 1120 bushels, or thirty tons, could be ascertained as 
having been grown on one acre." (P. Kropotkin's "Fields, Fac- 
tories and Workshops," page 114.) 



MAKING A LIVING — WHERE AND HOW 3 

times weeding, three times for bugs, and digging ; it would 
pay him to go over it much oftener. 

If he plants his rows of potatoes three feet apart, to allow 
for horse cultivation, he has 69 rows of 200 feet each ; which 
makes him walk at least thirty-three miles over each acre. 
If he has a twenty-acre lot in potatoes, he walks each year 
more than 650 miles over the field and gets, let us say, 150 
bushels of poor potatoes per acre, or 3000 bushels off his 
twenty-acre field. 

Now suppose he cultivates the soil, instead of just "rais- 
ing a crop," and gets 600 bushels of fine potatoes to the 
acre, he need plant only five acres, walk only 200 miles, 
and, because his potatoes are choice and early, get many 
times the price that his pedestrian neighbor gets. It is much 
easier to grow 200,000 lb. of feed on one acre than to grow 
them on ten acres. 

To cultivate is to watch the soil as you would watch your 
cooking and to tend the crop as you would tend your animals. 
The crop is as alive as the stock and as easily gets sick. 

If an ordinary farmer rents 60 acres at $5.00 per acre, a 
moderate rent for good land, he pays out in cash $300, be- 
sides farm wages. If he buys it, his interest and taxes will 
amount to nearly as much ; but if he tills but five acres in- 
telligently, he can get as much out of it as out of an ordinary 
farm, and even if his rent be as high as $30 per acre for well- 
situated land, he is $150 to the good ; besides, doing the work 
himself, he has no drain of capital for wages. 

Large barns and shelter for help being unnecessary, he can 
live in a cheap shack till he accumulates enough for proper 
buildings. Many of the successful vacant lot farmers live 
in a tent or in shanties made of old boxes and such like. 

Of course, if we have the knowledge and ability and the 



4 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

capital and can give it the attention, it is more profitable to 
cultivate on a large scale than on a small one, because in that 
case each worker necessarily produces more than he gets as 
wages — and we pocket the difference. 

Most American farmers are holding land that somebody 
ought to pay them a bonus for working, else they must come 
out of the little end of the horn. They get poor or poorly 
situated land, because it costs less, and then put three or four 
hundred dollars' worth of labor and money a year into the 
land and take out four or five hundred dollars' worth of 
crops. 

The farmer thinks he must have big fields to feed his cattle, 
and that he must have cattle to keep the big fields fertilized, 
so he raises hay. 

In that he makes two mistakes ; hay, like most other low- 
priced crops, is risky — the cost of harvesting is high and the 
margin of profit small. A week of wet weather at cutting 
time or the impossibility of getting enough men and machines 
in the week when it should be cut, may make a loss. 

But the scientific dairy man does not take that risk, nor 
let his cattle use up this fodder by wandering over the fields 
in search of tid-bits of grass or clover, or, goaded by the flies, 
trampling more grass than they eat and wasting their manure. 

He keeps the cows in cool sheds, feeds them on cut fodder, 
and saves every ounce of the manure. 

The modern cow is a ruminating machine for producing 
milk and cares little for exercise and needs little. To exploit 
the cattle as employers exploit the factory hands, he gives 
the cows a cool, shady place and food, and they stand there 
all day long to their profit and his.^ 

1 United States Agricultural Bulletin No. 22 says: "The 
New Jersey Experiment Station has been conducting a practical 



MAKING A LIVING — WHERE AND HOW 5 

Although we can feed a cow on less than an acre by raising 
forage crops, she needs to be milked every day at regular 
hours, and the milk, as well as the cans and the cow, need to 
be cared for — and she cannot wait. 

The stock-raiser has a different proposition ; he needs fields 
and grass ; but if time and available labor is limited, we had 
better specialize on the garden — unlike the farmers. 

The farmers are not to blame that they do not usually cul- 
tivate the land intelligently. They are mostly cut off from 
the educational advantages of the cities by distance and by 
bad roads. 

Usually, that is because, desirable land being held at spec- 
ulative prices, they are forced to places where the farm itself 
is worth less than the good improvements on it cost. Some- 
times it is because, also, the land is poor or worn out ; more 
often because it is thoughtlessly managed, nearly always be- 
cause the land-hungry farmer has taken ten times as much 
land as he needs for farming. In the hope of a rise that 
often does not come, nearly all have bought more land than 
they can take good care of with limited capital and scarcity 
of help. 

trial in soiling dairy cows for a number of years past, and finds that 
complete soiling is entirely practicable, i.e. that green foliage crops 
may serve as the sole food of the dairy herd, aside from the grain 
ration, without injury to the animals and with a considerable sav- 
ing in the cost of milk. 

"Under the soiling system a large number of animals can be 
kept upon a given acreage, and by allowing open-air exercises in 
a large yard or pasture the practice has been demonstrated as en- 
tirely feasible for dairy animals. 

" One acre of soiling crops produced sufficient fodder for an equiv- 
alent of 3| cows for six months. Rye, corn, crimson clover, 
alfalfa, oats and peas, and millets have been found to furnish food 
more economically than any other green crops in that locality. A 
grain ration was always fed in addition to the soiling crops." 



6 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

In addition, the farms have held out such poor prospects 
of fortune that the smarter and more enterprising boys and 
girls have left them for the towns, leaving behind the duller 
and more conservative to the mercy of the railroads and 
other monopolies. What wonder, then, that the overworked 
and struggling farmer finds little chance to study, or to in- 
vestigate and invest in fertilizers or even in modern methods 
of agriculture. 

No wonder farming does not pay if a "farmer" means a 
stupid man with neither training for, nor knowledge of, his 
business. Those who have the knowledge seldom have the 
experience and those who have the experience seldom have 
the knowledge. 

The bonanza farms of the West are other samples of great 
areas of the most productive land in the United States being 
used most unscientifically. By the methods used, the land 
produces less per acre than land in the East which is not so 
good. Accordingly, we find that the bonanza farm plan, 
where great areas of wheat are worked by machines with 
labor employed only in the seed time and harvest, is rapidly 
breaking up. As the land becomes valuable and is taxed, 
such wasteful, wholesale methods do not pay as well as it 
pays to rent or sell the land to farmers, who each for them- 
selves attend to details of the business. Consequently, most 
of those farms are being sold off. The whole amount of 
wheat ever raised on them, however, is small compared to the 
rice, millet, and wheat raised in China, India, and Russia, and 
is insignificant compared to the amount of produce grown on 
the myriad little farm plots. ^ 

^ A comparison of productions as taken from the 12th and 13th 
United States Censuses in the bonanza farm states shows that the 
yield of wheat was 



MAKING A LIVING — WHERE AND HOW 7 

" The average extent of land tilled by one family in Japan 
does not exceed one hectare" (2.471 acres), less than two and 
a half acres. ("Japan in the Beginning of the Twentieth 
Century," page 89. Published by the Department of Agri- 
culture and Commerce of Japan.) 

"Farm households contain on an average 5.8 persons, of 
whom two and a half persons per family may be regarded of 
an age capable of doing effective work." 

"So that here we have more than one person working on 
each acre and each acre supporting more than two persons, 
notwithstanding that their 22,000,000 tenant farmers pay 
sometimes four fifths of their product as rent." (Same, 
page 103.) 

Denmark, one of the best agricultural countries and prob- 
ably one of the happiest communities on earth, reported 

1900 farms of 250-300 acres, 

74,000 farms averaging 100 acres, 

150,000 farms averaging 7 to 10 acres, 

1050 cooperative dairies, and so on. 

And so impressed has the ruling class there become with 
the advantage of this that the Government will supply the 
poor worker nine tenths of the means necessary to buy a 
small farm. 

Says Kropotkin, "the small island of Jersey, eight miles 
long and less than six miles wide, still remains a land of 
open field culture; but, although it comprises only 28,707 
acres (nearly 45 square miles), rocks included, it nourishes a 

In 1899 In 1909 

Minnesota 14^ bu. per acre 17,4 

North Dakota 13| bu. per acre 14.3 

South Dakota 10| bu. per acre 14.6 

while New England shows 23.5 bu. per acre. 

By 1917 these largely increased, but the differences remain. 



8 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

population of about two inhabitants to each acre, or 1300 
inhabitants to the square mile, and there is not one writer 
on agriculture who, after having paid a visit to this island, 
does not praise the well-being of the Jersey peasants and the 
admirable results which they obtain in their small farms of 
from five to twenty acres — very often less than five acres — 
by means of a rational and intensive culture. 

"Most of my readers will probably be astonished to learn 
that the soil of Jersey, which consists of decomposed granite, 
with no organic matter in it, is not at all of surprising fertility, 
and that its climate, though more sunny than the climate of 
the British Isles, offers many drawbacks on account of the 
small amount of sun heat during the summer and of the cold 
winds in spring/' ^ 

In a small plot the character of the soil is of little conse- 
quence. We hear of one garden in New York City on the 
roof of a big building where the janitor smuggled up the 
needed soil in baskets. 

The school gardens in New York City, some in a space 
as small as a hearth rug, one yard by two, show how to use 
a very small patch of land to the best advantage. Nor need 
it take more time than you can afford. 

1 "The successes accomplished lately in Jersey are entirely due 
to the amount of labor which a dense population is putting on the 
land ; to a system of land-tenure, land-transference, and inheritance 
very different from those which prevail elsewhere ; to freedom from 
State taxation; and to the fact that communal institutions have 
been maintained down to quite a recent period, while a number 
of communal habits and customs of mutual support, derived there- 
from, are alive to the present time." ("Fields, Factories and 
Workshops.") 

"It will suffice to say that on the whole the inhabitants of Jersey 
obtain agricultural products to the value of S250 to each acre of the 
aggregate surface of land." (Same, page 113.) 



MAKING A LIVING — WHERE AND HOW 9 

"Some of the cultivators of city lots on Long Island who 
kept count of the number of days they worked, show the sur- 
prising conclusion that they earned, not farm wages (seventy- 
five cents a day with board and lodging for the worker), but 
mechanics' wages (four dollars per day) for every working 
day ; as, for instance, a stone cutter, assisted by his two boys, 
worked fifty hours and made $120.23/' ("Cultivation of 
Vacant Lots, New York," page 12) ; and four city lots is a 
very little farm. 

But though one may not own even a little farm, almost 
any one who wants to can have a home garden — it needs 
but a small plot of land. Nor need we be discouraged be- 
cause acquaintances who play at gardening tell us that their 
vegetables cost them more than if they bought them. 

They naturally would, w^ith thoughtless methods of culti- 
vation, with the selection of crops and the purchase of seeds 
left to an uneducated man who does all his work the way he 
saw his grandfather do it. 

Nor are we to be discouraged even by the "gentleman 
farmer" who runs a model farm, a model of how not to do it, 
for, notwithstanding its large capital, it seldom pays. 

I am passing such a farm now as I write in the train — it 
is surrounded by a cut stone wall. Do you suppose the 
owner's business would pay if it were run in the same way 
that his farm is run? We know the story of the white 
sparrow to find which w^ould bring luck to the farm — but 
it was out only at daybreak ; the farmer got up each morn- 
ing to find the sparrow and found a lot of other things to at- 
tend to, which did bring luck to the farm. I don't think 
the owner of that wall worked at it, at daybreak. 

The time is not far distant when the builders of homes 
in our American cities will be compelled to leave room for a 



10 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

garden, in order to meet the requirements of the people. 
In the mad rush for wealth we have overlooked the natural 
state, but we see a healthy reaction setting in. With the 
improvements in steam and electricity, the revolutionizing 
of transportation, the cutting of the arbitrary telephone 
charges, it is becoming possible to live at a distance from 
our business. May we not expect in the near future to 
see one portion of our cities devoted entirely to business, 
with the homes of the people so separated as to give light, 
sunshine, and air to all, besides a piece of ground for a garden 
sufficient to supply the table with vegetables ? 

You raise more than vegetables in your garden : you raise 
your expectation of life. 

Life belongs in the garden. Do you remember — the first 
chapters of Genesis show us our babyhood in a garden — the 
garden that all babyhood remembers, and the last chapter of 
the Apocalypse leaves us with the vision of the garden in the 
Holy City, on either side of the river, where the trees yield 
their fruits every month and bear leaves of universal healing. 
Just so will it be in our holy cities of the future — the garden 
will be right there "in the midst." 



i 



CHAPTER II 

PRESENT CONDITIONS 

Up to the Civil War and for some years after, our people 
were almost wholly agricultural. National activity con- 
tented itself with settling and developing the vast areas of 
the public lands, whose virgin richness cried aloud in the 
wilderness for men. 

The policy of the government, framed to stimulate 
rapid occupation of the public lands, had attracted hordes 
of settlers over the mountains from the older states, and im- 
migration flowed in a steady stream into the valleys of the 
Ohio and the Mississippi. 

A system had grown up in the South almost patriarchal, 
based upon cultivation by slave labor of enormous areas de- 
voted exclusively to cotton. In the North, New England 
had developed some few centers of industry, drawing their 
support from the manufacture of the great Southern staple. 
New York, Boston, and Philadelphia were growing as outlets 
for foreign commerce, but as yet manufacturing flourished 
but feebly and in few localities. 

Such manufacturing and commercial enterprises as existed 
had been laboriously built up by long years of honest work- 
ing. The free lands of the government, by giving laborers 
an alternative, kept up wages, forcing employers to bid 
against each other for labor; and monopoly thus being 
checked, individual equality was possible. 

11 



12 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

The mineral resources of Pennsylvania and Ohio were all 
but unsuspected, and the calm of a people devoted to the 
peaceful pursuits of agriculture rested over the country. 

Railroads were few and inefl5cient : telegraph lines but 
in their infancy. Intercourse among the people, outside of 
a narrow fringe on the Atlantic coast, was cumbersome, 
and impeded by many obstacles. Primitive conditions 
everywhere prevailed, and communities brooded in silence, 
growing stragglingly in sluggish indifference, content with 
coarse food and coarser living. 

Such, in general, were the conditions up to 1861. Then 
came the storm of shot and shell, the rain of blood, the ele- 
mental rage of passion called the Civil War. There was a 
total upset of business. Such periods of hard times as had 
occurred prior to that time had been caused by the tinker- 
ing of untrained minds with the money system or by land 
speculation, and not by lack of access to the riches of nature. 
After four years our people awoke, as from a nightmare, to 
find the old life swept away forever. In the South, the Con- 
federates, bitter and sullen, groping amid the ruins of their 
institutions, sought to find some substitute for the agricul- 
tural despotism exercised for generations by their slave- 
holding families. In the East, the first families of the 
Revolution, secure in their preeminence, assumed again the 
manufacturing-banking-social prestige. The far West was 
still almost unknown, and remained in possession of the 
buffalo and the Indian. Settlers poured, in increasing 
numbers, on to the unappropriated lands still left in the 
states of the central West, and the center of political power 
shifted rapidly to this fertile region. 

Already men of keen insight foresaw a time when oil, tim- 
ber, coal, and iron must become the stay of a vastly expand- 



PRESENT CONDITIONS 13 

ing industrial system, and bent their energies to secure the 
chief sources of supply. From the nature of their work the 
men who built railways first became aware of the riches of 
nature, and aided by an enormous public sympathy with 
their efforts, monopolized all the natural opportunities of 
value. Coupled with industrial development was the grad- 
ual appropriation of the land. The time soon arrived when 
the late comers either stayed in the manufacturing centers 
at the railways terminals or were pushed farther and farther 
away from the centers. As the landowning families multi- 
plied, the young men were confined to the same choice. 
Forced off the land, the tendency has been to crowd the brain- 
iest blood of America into the cities. In addition, the compe- 
tition of the new Western lands, brought into use by railway 
development, has exiled the youth of New England, who 
found in their rocky acres no incentive to toil. They, too, 
joined the ever-increasing flow to the cities, and entered into 
the savage competition of our great towns. 

In our time the pendulum has swung to its extreme. At 
every depression of business, armies of the unemployed perish 
in sight of the land they abandoned in the hope of a brighter 
future. Their children have forgotten the traditions of the 
soil, and the energies of our people must now be concentrated 
to reverse the aimless tide of human sufferers, which under 
stress continues to flow city-ward, and to send it to repeople 
the silent places whence it came. The fight will not be easily 
won. Changes in the national land policy are imperative. 
To give one generation privileges which enslave all who 
succeed it, is intolerable and will not be permanently endured. 

It is easy to determine upon a policy in the quiet of the 
study ; different is the problem of applying a comprehensive 
scheme to repeople the idle land. In the first place, where 



14 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

is the idle land? In all parts of our country it exists in 
abundance. Almost every state in the Union has lands 
which either have never been alienated, or which have re- 
verted to the state through nonpayment of taxes. In the 
East, particularly, the competition of Western lands, aided 
by discriminating freight rates, now so notorious, has resulted 
in the abandonment to the mortgagee of vast areas in New 
York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and to some 
extent in New Jersey. These are now largely resold. 

Declining fertility and exorbitant and oppressive trans- 
portation charges have helped to keep these lands out of use, 
and some still lie idle and neglected, to excite the wonder 
of the social and economic student. To use the abandoned 
lands of the East, equal rates on agricultural products is a 
basic necessity. 

The first step, now well under way, is railroad control by 
the Government. Equal access to transportation is as es- 
sential as equal access to land, for transportation is indeed 
an attribute of land. 

Extending the inquiry westward, the coal and oil areas of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio are all controlled by a few hands. 
The original fertility of the farming areas of these states, to- 
gether with the fact that they have been producing for only 
about a century, has enabled them to hold their own until 
recently, but now only the best located tracts are in maxi- 
mum production, and this can be maintained only by the 
most advanced agricultural science. In spite of greater 
advantages, the crowded cities and deserted country districts 
are beginning to repeat in the fertile alluvial valleys of the 
interior, the tragic story of the East. 

In the Mississippi valley, conditions seem better. Values 
of farming lands are increasing rapidly ; the farms are rich 



PRESENT CONDITIONS 15 

and growing richer ; food products are cheap and abundant ; 
certain staples are produced in enormous quantities and sent 
to feed the cities of the East and the industrial population 
of Europe. The railroads transport these products nearly 
one thousand miles for the same prices as they charge in the 
East for transporting them one hundred miles. Wealth, 
activity, and political power concentrate at the inlet and out- 
let of the railway funnel, leaving vast areas of unused and un- 
usable land between the terminals. Access to markets deter- 
mines value. That is why the favored lands of Illinois, Iowa, 
Kansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin, one to two thousand miles 
from market, have risen in value to as high as three hundred 
dollars per acre, and the lands of New England, New York, 
and New Jersey go begging at twenty to sixty dollars per acre, 
unless they lie within the artificial prosperity of the cities. 

Farther west in the irrigated regions of Colorado and Utah, 
restricted areas are held for special fruit crops, at prices rang- 
ing from three hundred to two thousand dollars and up, per 
acre. But here, again, monopoly, now a monopoly of natu- 
ral opportunity, is a factor in creating prices ; on this, how- 
ever, the vast irrigation projects of the government, bringing 
into use larger and larger areas of these favored lands, were 
expected to exercise a check. Up to 1918 little has been 
sold. Their reclamation cost too much. 

The willingness of the Southern planters to sell their lands, 
and so to release them for intensive cultivation, has partly 
turned the tide of immigration from the Eastern ports to 
the South, and the market garden system is reaching increas- 
ing areas. The development of factories to make cotton 
fabrics and to utilize the formerly wasted cotton seed by turn- 
ing it into meal for cattle and other animals, as well as into 
the various food products, such as cotton-seed oil, cottolene, 



16 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

etc., has stimulated the use of the waste land around these 
budding factory centers, thus tending to encourage intensive 
use of small, well-located tracts. 

With a climate much milder and more equable than that 
of the Northern states, with a potential fertility of soil, 
equally great under proper management, the South is making 
greater strides than any other part of the country. 

The foregoing shows that in every section opportunities 
of getting the people to the land exist. Where a man should 
go is determined by a variety of things. If he be a newly 
arrived immigrant used to land work in Southern Europe, 
he would find his best chance in the South ; if a German or 
Russian, or from any of the Northern European countries, 
he would find the beet-sugar sections of Michigan, Colorado, 
or California more to his liking ; if American born, without 
much knowledge of out-door work, and feeling the need of 
social life, the cheap farms of New York, New Jersey, and 
New England would probably be most attractive. 

Many persons write me that I say it is necessary to get 
good land near population or with cheap and assured trans- 
portation facilities — and that it must not cost more than it 
is worth for gardening. " I find," they say, "that such acres 
are held as * lots' at wildly speculative prices" and they ask 
"Where can I find such land?" But this is a book on agri- 
cultural use of land. Why land costs too much and where 
the remedy lies are other questions, dealt with in my " Things 
as They Are." 

However, probably the best chances now for intensive cul- 
tivation are in New Jersey, in the backwoods of the Middle 
states now made accessible by cheap autos — and in the South. 

What can be undertaken with good prospects of success 
will be outlined in the following chapters. 



CHAPTER III 

HOW TO BUY THE FARM 

Before the purchase of the land for a home in the country, 
some consideration ought to be given to probable increase 
in land values. Even if you are primarily interested in your 
early sales of produce, you will not object to reaping an addi- 
tional profit from the presence of other people. 

Inasmuch as density of population determines land values, 
it follows that vacant land near a large city at $100 per acre 
may be cheaper than similar land at a distance would be at 
$10 per acre. If you buy real estate, you become a silent 
partner who does nothing, but takes most of the profits of 
the business of others. 

Some persons see so clearly that money is often easily gotten 
by investing in land, that sometimes they make mistakes, in 
trying to get in. It is as easy to be a lamb in the real estate 
market as it is in the stock market. 

Foresight, judgment, and experience or luck are essential 
to success in real estate dealing, but help, at least in keeping 
out of danger, may be had by following a few simple rules, 
if one can command a little capital, borrowed or owned. 

The following points, suggested by a professional land 
shark, will certainly be of interest and possibly of profit to 
the intending buyer, I believe myself that they contain the 
whole philosophy of land speculation. 

For a sure profit buy low-priced land, keeping as near the 
"raw material" as possible; high-priced property is risky 
c 17 



18 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

and expensive to carry. An acre which costs one or two 
hundred dollars, or ten dollars per lot, will cost but six to 
twelve dollars per year to carry and half a dollar for taxes, 
and if a stable does come next you, why, you can sell your 
land for a blacksmith shop. 

Besides this, a ten-dollar lot, if restricted for residence or 
available for business, often advances to $100 in a year; 
one good house which some one else built near it may raise 
its value that much. 

If the land is high priced, see that there is some kind of a 
building on it ; even a shanty will usually bring in enough 
or save you enough by its use to pay the taxes ; so you will 
have that working for you w^hilst you are away. 

If possible, buy at auction and of reputable people who 
are not boomers, or at least buy at forced sale ; that is how 
real estate is sold when it must be sold. Choose lots level 
with the curb and on high ground, lest the expense of grad- 
ing and sewering eat up your profit. 

Keep in mind that in buying land for speculation one really 
buys the opportunity to tax other people, by taking part of 
their earnings in the shape of rent or price. Do not then be 
deluded by boom schemes in inaccessible or desolate places ; 
choose rather that land which in the natural course of events 
others must have in order to work or to live. 

Home buying in small communities is safer than in the out- 
skirts of a large city, because public improvements are much 
less costly. If you put $500 in a $5000 home and carry the 
balance on mortgage, an assessment of $1000 for streets or 
sewers, which helps the vacant lots, will probably put you 
out of business. Whether for use or speculation, buy in an 
established neighborhood or where the circumstances and 
neighbors are such that restrictions or expenditures will make 



HOW-TO BUY THE FARM 19 

its character sure. The increase in your land value depends 
first upon the presence, then upon the efforts, of others; 
it is by their labor you hope to profit. 

Therefore, buy property on leading thoroughfares ; except 
in a very small section devoted to the residence of millionaires, 
the price of residence property has a limit; even there the 
merest accident or the whim of fashion may destroy the value, 
but there is no telling what figure business property may reach. 

Do not build unless you have to. It is rare that a build- 
ing pays five per cent net on the value of the land and the 
cost of the house. "Who buys a house already wrought, 
gets many a brick and nail for nought." If, however, you 
can get a piece of ground in a growing neighborhood and 
live on it till you can sell at an advance, that is the safest, 
and surest of investments. It delivers you from the power 
of the landlord. 

Lastly — in real estate — don't bite off more than you can 
chew. 

Most of these rules apply to the purchase of suburban 
land. In farm buying, keep as close to your market as you 
can. See that railway facilities are all right ; get land likely 
to be needed for other purposes. The best way to begin is 
by securing all information possible from state agricultural 
departments. Write to the industrial agents of important 
railroads traversing the section in which you want to locate. 
They have detailed information regarding land, markets, so- 
cial conditions, etc. ; get from the United States Agricultural 
Department a map showing the soil survey of the section of 
your choice. It must be borne in mind that personal aid is 
not to be expected from State Agricultural Departments, 
Bureaus of Immigration, railway companies, or any public 
agency. 



20 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

From the big farm agencies run for profit you can get lists 
of thousands of properties for sale. Some State Agricultural 
Departments cooperate with real estate men in their own 
states, by referring inquiries for farms to them. Some states 
issue from time to time lists of "abandoned farms," but these 
change so constantly that they help but little except in the 
way of suggestion. 

When you start farm-hunting take along a good map. 
Then you will know a few things on your own account. 
Verify railroad maps and " facts," as they are often biased. 
Don't waste your time wandering around a strange 
locality by yourself. The local real estate man knows more 
about his community than you can learn in five years. In 
trying to find out things for yourself you will waste in aim- 
less journeys, undertaken in ignorance of real conditions, 
more time and money than a real estate man's commission 
amounts to. 

The only way to form a correct idea of the production of 
any given section is to examine a particular farm in detail. 
Within well-recognized limits, all the farms thereabouts 
will be found of similar character. Before spending money 
to look at land, learn all you can by correspondence. Whether 
it is more profitable in the long run to buy that good plot of 
land in a high state of cultivation with good buildings on it, 
at a high price, than to buy this exhausted piece of land with 
poor buildings or none at all, is a question for the individual 
to decide. It depends on your energy, grit, age, and how 
much money you have. It is much easier to take advantage 
of what the other fellow has done, than it is to build from 
the stump. You must bear in mind, however, that well- 
kept land in a high state of cultivation seldom goes begging 
in the market. On the whole, if you have the capital to do 




< 



HOW TO BUY THE FARM 21 

it, you can make the biggest wages by buying rough or neg- 
lected land, and hewing it into shape. 

If you have a knowledge of soils, you may be able to find 
land that will grow something that no one supposes it will 
grow. This will be particularly useful in the case of land 
thought to be valueless. The lands about Miles, Michigan, 
were considered sterile until some one found out that they 
would grow mint, a valuable crop, which made the land sal- 
able at high prices. 

Get hold of a desirable bit of the earth. All that men 
wear or eat or use; everything — shelter, food, tools, and 
toys comes from the land by labor. Even the capital used 
to make more of those things is taken from the land. The 
employer and the capitalist are, at bottom, only men who con- 
trol the land or its products, who own rights of way, mining 
rights, or the fee of valuable lands. Thousands have " made " 
money by finding unexpected products in their land or of their 
lands, oil, coal, mineral, plants; thousands more because 
their land was needed by some one else, and they were paid 
to get out of the way. 

To speculate on these chances is risky business; to keep 
land that enables you to make good pay while you wait, is 
profitable. 



CHAPTER IV 

VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 

In this book, necessarily, we have to take much upon 
the reports of others, checking them by our own judgment 
and experience. The starthng accounts of what has been 
done and is being done on plots of about a quarter acre to 
each family, however, can be easily re-verified by any one 
who will go or write to Philadelphia, or examine any present 
experiment or model gardens. These show what can be done 
even by unskilled labor, with hardly any capital, on small 
plots where the soil was poor, but which are well situated. 

The directors say : "The first Vacant Lot Cultivation As- 
sociations were organized when relief agencies were vainly 
striving to provide adequate assistance for the host of un- 
employed. The cultivation of vacant city lots by the unem- 
ployed had already been tried successfully in other cities. 
The first year we provided gardens, seeds, tools, and instruc- 
tion only, for about one hundred families on twenty-seven 
acres of ground. At a total cost to contributors of about 
$1800, our gardeners produced $46,000 worth of crops." 

The applicant is allowed a garden on the sole condition that 
he cultivate it well through the season, and that he do not 
trespass upon his neighbors. He must respect their right 
to what their labor produces. A failure to observe these 
rules forfeits his privilege. 

22 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 23 

During twenty years, more than eight thousand families 
have been assisted, many old people who could no longer 
keep up the rapid pace of our industriallife, cripples whose 
physical condition held them back in the race for work, 
persons who on account of sickness or other misfortunes have 
been thrown out of the competition in modern business, and 
unfortunate beings who, though clear in mind and strong in 
muscle, have been forced to the ranks of the unemployed — 
these have all had an opportunity opened to them : oppor- 
tunity to enjoy all of the fruits from nature's great storehouse 
which their own labor and skill might secure. 

The war has forced France, Italy, and England similarly 
to utilize natural opportunities for subsistence in their 
enormous tracts of unproductive lands. In Mexico all 
proprietors will be required to designate what they propose 
to cultivate and the remainder will either be allotted tem- 
porarily for agricultural purposes to those desiring them or 
it will be cultivated under government management. There 
is no remedy like that for poverty. 

The first man who applied for a vacant lot garden came 
to the Philadelphia office after the announcement in the 
papers, so weak and emaciated that the doctor was afraid the 
poor fellow would be unable to get out of his office without 
assistance. He was a widower with three girls and a boy, 
the oldest girl about seventeen. 

He received a garden which contained only about one fifth 
of an acre. Later he observed that a part of another little 
farm was left untouched on account of being very rough, 
full of holes, and covered with stone and bricks. Part of this 
farm was below the street grade and subject to overflow, but 
it was larger than the others — nine tenths of an acre. He 
offered to exchange, saying he did not mind the extra work. 



24 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

His offer was accepted. In a few days the stones and bricks 
had been thrown into the holes and covered with dirt. The 
low places had been filled in. It was a work in which the 
whole family joined. A small house was rented in the im- 
mediate neighborhood in lieu of their one room near the 
foul alleys of the city slum. 

Every inch of the soil was utilized. A rosy hue took the 
place of the pale, wan cheek of a few months before. And 
now the harvest has come, and the winter's store can be 
enumerated. Thirty bushels of potatoes, four bushels of 
turnips, one bushel of carrots, thirty gallons of sauerkraut, 
fifteen gallons of catsup, five gallons of pickled beans, one 
hundred quarts of canned tomatoes, fifty quarts of canned 
corn, twenty quarts of beans, one thousand or more fine 
celery stalks, and many other things. Warm clothing has 
replaced the badly worn garments of nine months ago. A 
few pieces of furniture have been added. The boy has been 
provided with a small capital for his little business. ("Va- 
cant Lot Cultivation," Reprint fromN. Y. Charities Review.) 
Better labor would of course get even better results. 

The personal benefits that have come to a few individual 
cases, are largely the same that all the gardeners enjoyed in 
New York and elsewhere. 

An old colored woman — a grandmother — who had just 
been released from one of the hospitals where she had been 
treated for a long time for pleurisy, asked for a garden. It 
was more than a mile to the nearest plot, but she was quite 
willing to go even that distance if she could get a garden. 
At first, owing to her weakened condition, she was forced to 
work slowly and for short periods only, but a little assistance 
enabled her to get a garden started. The work proceeded 
so well that more land was added to her small holding, and 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 25 

most of her waking hours were now spent either in or near 
the garden, working among the tender plants or watching 
them grow. Before the season was half spent she had devel- 
oped one of the best gardens in the whole plot. Her surplus 
produce became so large that she had to devote most of her 
time to gathering and selling it. Finally she rented a small 
shed on a prominent street and passers-by often stopped, 
and regular customers came to buy the freshly gathered 
produce, the supply being not only abundant, but of great 
variety. 

One of the best gardens, from the standpoint of value of 
produce as well as for the varieties of products it contained 
and the artistic arrangement, was worked by a man who had 
but one arm. Many other successful and profitable gardens 
were cultivated by men and women of an age when we gen- 
erally expect them to depend entirely upon others for support. 

Many incidents were found where such habits as drinking 
and loafing around saloons and clubs and abusing the family 
have been checked on account of the gardener's time and 
attention being occupied in the little farm. 

One of the workers came for w^ork in a condition of mind 
and body which rendered his services almost worthless. 
He was scarcely able to carry on his work for a minute be- 
yond what he was shown. Each new move had to be ex- 
plained constantly, and even then he was often found doing 
the work in the wrong way only a few minutes afterwards. 
Before long, however, he began to see that his place had 
its responsibilities and that the work of Mother Nature 
depended on his doing his part and doing it well. By the 
time the crops were ready to gather and market he came to 
realize that the cost of production must come under the 
amount received from the sale of the produce so as to 



26 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

prevent loss. By the end of the season he had learned so 
to utilize his time and to organize his work and execute 
our plans that we were able to recommend him to a farmer 
who was looking for a handy man about the place. 

In twenty years our Associations have made demonstra- 
tions of the following facts, each demonstration proving more 
clearly than the former ones : 

First. That many people out of employment must have 
help of some kind. 

Second. That a great majority of them prefer self-help, 
and many will take no other. Nearly all are able and willing 
to improve any opportunities open to them. 

Third. That to open opportunities to them does not pau- 
perize or degrade, but has the opposite effect of elevating 
and ennobling. It quickly establishes self-respect and self- 
confidence. The best and most effective way of helping 
people in need is to open a way whereby they may help 
themselves. The most effective charity is opportunity ac- 
companied with kindly advice and a personal interest in those 
less fortunate than ourselves. 

Fourth. That the offering of gardens to the unemployed 
with proper supervision and some assistance by providing 
seeds, fertilizers, and plowing accompanied with instruction, 
is the cheapest and easiest way of opening opportunities yet 
devised. 

Fifth. That it possesses many advantages in addition to 
providing profitable employment; among others, that the 
worker must come out into the open air and sunshine ; must 
exercise, and put forth exertion, — all of which are conducive 
to health, and, most important of all, he knows that all he 
raises is to be his own. This is the greatest incentive to 
industry. 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 27 

The Vacant Lot Cultivation system is a school wherein 
gardeners are taught a trade (to most of them a new trade), 
farming, which offers employment for more people than all 
the other trades and professions combined : a trade suscep- 
tible of wide diversification and offering many fields for spe- 
cializing. But little capital is required ; any other field would 
require large outlay. Its greatest advantage, however, is 
that the idle men and the idle land are already close to each 
other — the men can reach their gardens without changing 
their domiciles or being separated from their families. 
; It was not until after several years that the full effect of 
the work was realized. A few gardeners each year from the 
beginning have, after one or two years' experience, taken 
small farms or plots of land to cultivate on their own account, 
or have sought employment on farms near the city ; but the 
number is quite small compared to the whole number 
helped. Now more than ten per cent of those that had 
gardens previously have for the last two years been working 
on their own account. Out of nearly eight hundred garden- 
ers, more than eighty-five either rented or secured the 
loan of gardens that season and cultivated them wholly at 
their own expense, and many others would have done so 
had suitable land been available. The number of gardens 
forfeited on account of poor cultivation or trespassing was 
only two out of 800 plots given out. 

The first important advance was early in the spring of 1904, 
when it became known that a large tract of land that had 
been in gardens for several years would be withdrawn from 
use. A number of the gardeners came together to talk over 
the situation. One proposed that they form a club to lease 
a tract of land and divide it up among themselves. The plan 
was readily agreed to, and a nine-acre tract on Lansdowne 



28 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Avenue was rented at $15 per acre per annum. Some sixteen 
families became interested, and Mr. D. F. Rowe, who had 
been one of the most successful gardeners, became manager. 
They had the land thoroughly fertilized and plowed, and then 
subdivided. Some took separate allotments, as under the 
Vacant Lot Association's plan, and others worked for the 
manager at an agreed rate of wages per hour. The whole 
nine acres were thoroughly well cultivated, and a magnificent 
crop harvested. 

As soon as there was produce for sale, a market was es- 
tablished on the ground and a regular delivery system or- 
ganized, which later attracted much attention. It was 
carried on by the children, of nine to twelve years of age, 
from the various families. Each child was provided with a 
pushcart. There were many and various styles, made from 
little express wagons, baby coaches, and produce boxes. 

The children built up their own routes, and went regularly 
to their customers for orders. They made up the orders, 
loaded them into their little pushcarts, charged themselves 
up with the separate amounts in a small book, and at the 
end of each day's sales each child settled with the manager 
and was paid his commission (twenty per cent of the receipts) 
in cash. These little salesmen and salesgirls often took home 
four to ^ve dollars per week and yet never worked more than 
three to five hours per day. The work was done under such 
circumstances that to them it was not work but play. You 
can get the full report from the Philadelphia " Vacant Lot 
Cultivation Associations." It's interesting. 

"The greatest value that our little garden has brought us," 
said a French woman, mother of a goodly number of rather 
small children, "has not been in the fine vegetables it has 
yielded all summer, or the good times that I and the children 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 29 

have had in the open air, but in the glasses of beer and ab- 
sinthe that my husband hasn't taken." " Quite right, mother, 
quite right," came from a man near by. "The world can 
never know the evil we men don't do while we are busy in 
our little gardens." 

Further, pillage of crops, which was always urged as an ob- 
jection to raising fruits or truck on open grounds, has proved 
to be a baseless fear. Where any of the gardeners are allowed 
to camp or put up shacks on the patches, theft does not occur 
and various superintendents repeat that " the few and trivial 
cases of stealing from vacant lot plots or school gardens were 
almost all at the places that were fenced." 

Perhaps our locks and bolts tend to suggest breaking in. 

The Garden Primer issued by the New York City Food 
Supply Committee gives simple but incomplete directions for 
planting and tending a vegetable garden. For those who 
need that sort of thing, these are just the sort of thing they 
need. They will be useful if you do not follow them. The 
Primer tells you how to get some kind of parsnips, chard, 
spinach, common onions, radishes, cabbage, lettuce, beets, 
tomatoes, beans, turnips, peas, peppers, egg plants, cucum- 
bers, corn, and potatoes. 

Don't grow these things, unless it be for your own imme- 
diate use. Every one grows them and ripens them all at the 
same time. In many places these are given away or thrown 
away this year. Grow anything that every one wants and 
has not got, like okra, small fruits, etc. ; you can get a much 
better return in cash or in trade than by spending your time 
"like other folks" who do not think. 

So I refer to these directions for their instruction, and for 
your warning. However, they give the following admirable 
injunctions. 



30 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"Help Your Country and Yourself by Raising Your Own 
Vegetables/' 

As we will likely have to send to Europe in coming years 
as much or even more food than we did last year, there is 
only one way to avoid a shortage among our own people, that 
is by raising a great deal more than usual. To do this we 
must plant every bit of available land. (Of course, we 
can't ; the owners won't let us. Ed.) 

If you have a back yard, you can do your part and help the 
world and yourself by raising some of the food you eat. The 
more you raise the less you will have to buy, and the more 
there will be left for some of your fellow countrymen who 
have not an inch of ground on which to raise anything. 

If there is a vacant lot in your neighborhood, see if you 
cannot get the use of it for yourself and your neighbors, and 
raise your own vegetables. An hour a day spent in this 
way will not only increase wealth and help your family, but 
will help you personally by adding to your strength and 
well-being and making you appreciate the Eden joy of gar- 
dening. An hour in the open air is worth more than a dozen 
expensive prescriptions by an expensive doctor. 

The only tools necessary for a small garden are a spade or 
spading fork, a hoe, a rake, and a line or piece of cord. 

First of all, clear the ground of all rubbish, sticks, stones, 
bottles, etc. (especially whisky bottles). 

Choose the sunniest spot in the yard for your garden. 

Dig up the soil to a depth of 6 to 10 inches, using a spade 
or spading fork. (Deeper for parsnips and some other 
roots. Ed.) Break up all the lumps with the spade or 
fork. 

If you live in a section where your neighbors have gardens, 
you might club together to hire a teamster for a day to do 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 31 

the plowing and harrowing for you all, thus saving a large 
amount of labor. 

After your garden has been well dug, it must be fertilized 
before any planting is done. In order to produce large and 
w^ell-grown crops it is often necessary to fertilize before 
each planting. Very good prepared fertilizers can be bought 
at seed stores, but horse or cow manure is much better, as it 
lightens the soil in addition to supplying plant food. Use 
street sweepings if you can get them. 

The manure should be well dug into the ground, at least 
to the full depth of the top soil. The ground should then be 
thoroughly raked, as seeds must be sown in soil which has 
been finely powdered. 

Lay out the garden, keeping the rows straight with a line. 
Straight rows are practically a necessity, not only for easier 
culture but for economy in space. 

After you have marked off your rows, the next step is open- 
ing the furrow. (A furrow is a shallow trench.) That is 
done with the hoe. (Best and quickest with a wheel hoe. 
Ed.) After the furrow is opened, it is necessary that the 
seed be sown and immediately covered before the soil has 
dried. In covering the seeds the soil must be firmly pressed 
down with the foot. This is important. 

In buying seed it is best to go to some well-established 
seed house, or, if that can't be done, to order by mail rather 
than to take needless chances. With most kinds of seeds 
a package is sufficient for a twenty-foot row. 

Begin to break up the hard surface of the soil between the 
plants soon after they appear, using a hand cultivator or hoe, 
and keep it loose throughout the season. This kills weeds ; 
it lets in air to the plant roots and keeps the moisture in the 
ground. 



32 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

By constantly stirring the top soil after your plants appear, 
the necessity of watering can be largely avoided except in 
very dry weather. An occasional soaking of the soil is better 
than frequent sprinkling. Water your garden either very 
early in the morning or after sundown. It is better not to 
water when the sun is shining hot. 

The planting scheme can be altered to suit your individual 
taste. For instance, peas and cabbage are included because 
almost everybody likes to have them fresh from their garden ; 
but they occupy more space in proportion to their value than 
beets and carrots. Therefore a small garden could be made 
more profitable by omitting them altogether, or cutting 
them down in amount and increasing the amount of carrots, 
beets, and turnips planted ; or any of the vegetables men- 
tioned which may not be in favor with the family can be 
left out. 

The kind of season we have would change the date of 
planting. In raising vegetables, as in everything else, one 
should use one's common (or garden variety of) sense. A 
good rule is to wait until the ground has warmed up a bit. 
Never try to work in soil wet enough to be sticky, or muddy ; 
wait until it dries enough to crumble readily. 

Gardening is not a rule of thumb business. Each gardener 
must bring his plants up in his own way in the light of his 
own experience and in accordance with the conditions of his 
own garden. A garden lover who has a bit of land will 
speedily learn if his eyes and his mind, as well as his hands, 
are always busy, no matter how meager his knowledge at 
the beginning. 

There is plenty of land — if you can only get it. 

Says Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, 
in regard to the food problem : 



VACANT CITY LOT CULTIVATION 33 

"Millions of acres of farm land are being held out of use and 
other millions of acres are being cultivated on a wasteful and 
inefficient basis. Land values have risen at an unprecedented rate. 
They are based not upon what the farm will earn at the present time, 
but on an expectancy of what it will be worth in the future. The 
farmer's son or the tenant farmer, with little or no capital, cannot 
hope to acquire possession of a farm when the price of land is so 
high that his earnings would not pay the interest on the invest- 
ment. The result is that land remains idle or in the hands of ten- 
ants, and thousands of farmers' boys desert the country for the city. 
******* 
What we need, and need badly, is a program of taxation which, 
without throwing additional burdens on the bona fide farmer, will 
place land now idle within the reach of men of hmited means who 
possess the ambition and the abihty to cultivate it." 

You can see that poor ignorant people, women, boys, 
cripples, old men, often on less than 100X150 feet each, 
not only in Philadelphia, but as war gardeners in New York, 
and most other towns, have been able to support themselves 
by their work on the land. You can do much better. 

To be sure, they had valuable land and often seeds free, 
but for such little pieces of land these are small items, and 
many of them had no certainty of having the land even for a 
second year, consequently they could not have hotbeds or 
any permanent improvement. You can make all these 
things. 

Then what can you do ? Only remember they had intelli- 
gent instruction and did the work themselves, and got the 
whole product ; often the children helped — they thought 
it fun. It does not pay to farm a small piece of land where all 
the workers have to be hired. Nor does it pay if one calcu- 
lates merely to stick in seeds with one hand and pull out 
profits with the other. 



CHAPTER V 

RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 

" If we get every one out on the farms, then there will be 
an over-production of farm products and a fall in prices." 

True, but there are farmers who could do better in towns ; 
what we want to do is to make it easy for people to get on 
the land about the cities, then it would be equally easy for 
those farmers who are better adapted for city life to get near 
the cities. 

Under present conditions, where the worker is forced out 
j&fteen or twenty miles from the town by the high price of 
land and the large amount of land required, the farmer is 
as much cut off from the city as the city dweller is cut off 
from rural life. 

We need not be afraid to teach men better ways ; there 
will always be plenty too stupid or too old or too isolated 
to learn; these will remain a bulwark against too sudden 
change. 

Dr. Engel, former head of the Prussian Statistical Bureau, 
informs us that " Scientific farming succeeds because a given 
amount of effort, when more intelligently directed, produces 
greater results. Inasmuch, then, as the amount of food 
which the world can consume is limited, the smaller will 
be the number of farmers required to produce the needed 
supply, and the larger will be the number driven from the 
country to the city. It has already been observed that if 

34 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 35 

scientific methods were universally adopted in the United 
States, doubtless one half of those now engaged in agricul- 
ture could produce the present crops, which would compel 
the other half to abandon the farm." This is "Engel's 
Law." 

This "argument " assumes that we are now utilizing all the 
land possible and that every one is fully supplied with food. 
But when we consider the great masses of people in the slums 
of all cities who are always underfed and whose constant 
thought is about their next meal; when we see hundreds 
of able-bodied men waiting in line until midnight for half 
a loaf of stale bread, surely it seems that there is a possi- 
bility of keeping all of the present farmers at work, if not 
of finding new fields for others, if we make our conditions 
such that there will be opportunities for every able-bodied 
worker to labor at remunerative employment. 

Professor L. H. Bailey, a most industrious and accurate 
observer, says : " Dr. Engel's argument rests on the assump- 
tion that agriculture produces only or chiefly food ; but prob- 
ably more than half of the agricultural products of the 
United States is not food. It is cotton, flax, hemp, wool, 
hides, timber, tobacco, dyes, drugs, flowers, ornamental 
trees and plants, horses, pets, and fancy stock, and hundreds 
of other non-edible commodities. The total food produce 
of the United States, according to the twelfth census, was 
$1,837,000,000. The cost of material used in the three 
industries of textile, lumber and leather manufactories 
alone was $1,851,000,000." 

"Dr. Engel thinks that the outlay for subsistence dimin- 
ishes as income increases ; but comforts and luxuries increase 
in intimate ratio with the income, and the larger part of 
these come from the farm and forest. Dr. Engel, in fact, 



36 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

allows this, for he says that ' sundries become greater as in- 
come increases.'" 

We have already abundance of information about almost 
every county in the Union, published by Boards of Trade 
and land boomers, like the following about " Oxnard, Ventura 
County, the center of the famous lima bean district in Cali- 
fornia. For a year the returns from farm products alone, 
in this vicinity, are estimated at over $2,000,000. The sugar 
factory, which uses 2000 tons of beets every twenty-four 
hours, requires the yield of about 1900 acres every season. 
The beet crop is rotated with beans, and the factory's supply 
is kept good by systematic methods. Two thousand head 
of cattle are being fattened at the present time in the com- 
pany's yard on the beet pulp. Much of the pulp is also 
sold to local stockmen, who value it highly for feed. The 
factory turns out 5000 bags of sugar every day." And 
again : 

"Eastern farm lands steadily declined in price up to 
about 1902, so that Eastern land sold for less than Western 
land of the same quality and of like situation ; but the tide 
seems at last to have turned, and much money is now being 
made in buying up cheap farms and especially in sub-dividing 
them for small cultivators." 

That sort of thing is interesting ; but it is not what a man 
wants to know — he is anxious to learn how much he can 
make and where and how to do it. 

The man who seeks a comfortable living will do better 
to rent on long lease or buy a few acres convenient to trolley 
or railroad communication with a city ; besides the returns 
which will come to the farmer from the use of a few acres, 
if he is the owner he will get a constant increase in the value 
of the land, due to the growth of the city. If the city grows 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 37 

out so that the land becomes too valuable to farm, he will 
be well paid for leaving.^ 

The amount of product to be grown for one's own use 
depends on the size of the family and its fondness for vege- 
tables. 

"An area of 150X100 feet [about two fifths of an acre] 
is generally sufficient to supply a family of five persons with 
vegetables, not considering the winter supply of potatoes; 
but the acres must be well tilled and handled." (Bailey, 
"Principles of Vegetable Gardening.") 

"The produce that could thus be obtained from an acre 
of land well situated would abundantly supply with nearly 
all the vegetables named, nineteen families, comprising in 
all 114 individuals." (Same, page 43.) 

In our garden we must know what we want and know 
how to get it.^ 

" The things to be considered in the home garden are : 
(1) a sufficient product to supply the family ; (2) continuous 
succession of crops ; (3) ease and cheapness of cultivation ; 
(4) maintenance of the productivity of the land year after 
year. 

" The ease and efficiency of cultivation are much enhanced 
if all crops are in long rows, to allow of wheel-tool tillage 
either by horse or wheel-hoe." 

1 Although progress is continually forcing laborers back upon 
less desirable land, their loss, unless they are the owners, is the land- 
owner's gain. 

2 It is impossible to treat exhaustively of the various crops in 
a book of this kind. On onion culture alone there are four standard 
books, besides seven or eight recent experimental station bulletins. 

"In a family garden 100 X 150 feet (which equals six New York 
City lots), the rows running the long way of the area, eight or ten 
feet may be reserved along one side for asparagus, rhubarb, sweet 
herbs, flowers, and possibly a few berry bushes. A strip twenty feet 



38 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

The experience of the Vacant Lot Gardeners (Chapter 
IV) shows that if the land be near a large market where the 
product can be peddled or sold by the producers or by those 
(as in Mr. Rowe's case), with whom he directly deals, more 
than twenty-five dollars capital is not necessary, but Peter 
Henderson ("Gardening for Profit") estimates that to get 
the best results, $300 capital per acre is required for anything 
less than ten acres. 

Where the land is favorably situated a fortune may be 
made in cultivation of a few acres — with brains. 

Quinn says ("Money in the Garden") that he knows a 
large number of market gardeners worth from ten to forty 
thousand dollars each, none of whom had five hundred dol- 
lars to begin with. 

If one has not enough money to get all that can be gotten 
out of his plot, it is best to put part of the land into clover 
to fit it for later use or to use it for raising grass. 

Results undoubtedly come from hard work ; but it is not 
necessary, in order to cultivate a little land successfully, 
that you should work all day on your hands and knees ; if 
you can raise fruit or nuts, this is not needed at all. 

But for vegetables a certain amount of it is necessary — 
when there is a large job of that kind of weeding to be done, 
you can hire Italians or other foreigners to do it better and 
cheaper than you can do it yourself. Those who will read 
this book can estrn more with their heads than their hands ; 
but when weeding is needed after a sudden shower and there 

wide may be reserved for vines, as melons, cucumbers, and squashes. 
There remains a strip seventy feet wide, or space for twenty rows 
three and one half feet apart. This area is large enough to allow 
of appreciable results in rotation of crops ; and if it is judiciously 
managed, it should maintain high productiveness for a lifetime." 
(Bailey, "Principles of Vegetable Gardening.") 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 39 

is no one else, you must do some of it yourself ; the weather 
will not wait for you to "get a man," and if you are not will- 
ing to do such things, your chances of success are greatly 
lessened. 
Here is the experience of one who "got a man" : 
"My garden, to begin with, was in the most rudimentary 
condition, having been allowed to run to grass. After 
digging up a spot about ten feet square in the turf, taking 
the early morning for the work, I decided that it would re- 
quire all summer to get the garden fairly spaded up, so I 
hired a stalwart Irishman to do the work for me, which he 
did in a week, charging me nine dollars for the job. As he 
professed to be also an expert in planting vegetables, I 
bought a supply of seeds in the city and intrusted them to 
him, assuring myself that once in the ground the rest of the 
work would fall to me ; if I could not keep a garden patch 
fifty feet square clear of weeds, I had better abandon the 
business at once, and all hopes of making a living out of 
scientiiSc gardening. The beginning was an unfortunate 
one. The weather happened to be first very wet, and then 
so dry and hot that my vegetables were unable to break 
their way through the baked earth. When my peas and 
beans still gave no signs after being in the ground for two 
weeks, I discovered that the whole work w^ould have to be 
done over again. A Presidential campaign was beginning, 
which kept me in town often late at night, so that the chief 
labor of the garden fell to my faithful Irishman, who got 
far more satisfaction out of it than I did. The vegetables 
finally did come up above the surface, and many an evening 
I finished a hard day's work by pumping and carrying hun- 
dreds of gallons of water to pour upon potato plants, toma- 
toes, beans, and other things which a friend of mine, an 



40 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

expert in such matters, assured me were curiosities of mal- 
formation and backwardness. My Irishman told me that 
it was all for want of manure, and by his advice I bought 
six dollars' worth of manure from a neighboring stable, and 
had it spread over the ground. The bills for my garden 
were meanwhile mounting up. I had begun the spring 
with a garden ledger, keeping an accurate account of every 
penny spent, and hoping to put on the other side of the page 
a tremendous list of fine vegetables. The accounts are 
before me now, and I presume that every one who has 
been through the same experience has preserved some such 
record." (Naturally, if he began that way.) ("Liberty 
and a Living," by P. G. Hubert.) 

If your idea of farming is to bury "some seeds" in untilled 
ground, regardless of suitability, and "wait till they come 
up," you will wait in vain for a decent crop. 

Says Professor Roberts in the "Farmstead" (Macmillan), 
" Mushrooms sell at fifty cents per pound ; maize for one 
half cent per pound. Why? Because anybody, even a 
squaw, can raise maize, but only a specially skilled gardener 
can succeed in mushroom culture." 

But enough has been said to show that you must cultivate 
with brains. The Germans say, "What your head won't 
do, your legs have to." 

"We'll have a little farm, 
A pig, a horse and cow. 
And you will drive the wagon 
While I drive the plow," 

is very pretty. The horse and the pigs are practical, if you 
can take care of them yourself ; pigs are good farm catch-alls. 
If you have to pay a man to do it, you had better hire your 
horses and buy your pork. 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 41 

Two well-groomed, healthy cows, one calving in the 
spring and one in the autumn, can be made a source of profit, 
and of valuable manure, if you have land enough in a neigh- 
borhood where up-to-date parents are willing to pay ten 
to twenty cents a quart for pure milk for their infants or 
even for family use. But your land and your own baby's 
care and milk will probably be enough for you to attend to 
promptly and thoroughly every day — and night. 

It is an age-old experience that if we take care of a little 
land, the land will take care of us. In Ferrero's " Grandezza 
e Decadenza di Roma" is an interesting account of Marcus 
Terentius Varro's "De Re Rustica." Varro wrote in the 
year 37 b.c, and as he was then eighty years old, he had 
seen the transformation of Italy from an agricultural to a 
manufacturing, trading community and the accompanying 
wreck of the old agricultural system, which, of course, he 
laments. 

The growth of vast landed estates largely held by imperial 
favorites, as Pliny said, destroyed Italy. So fearful has the 
destruction been that it is only in our generation that the 
Campagna at Rome, which was once an intensely fruitful 
quilt of garden patches, has been reclaimed from the fever- 
smitten swamp to which vast landlordism had reduced it. 

In the third book of "De Re Rustica," Varro recom- 
mends as his remedy, intensive cultivation close to the 
cities, and the breeding of "fancy stock," including 
pigeons, snails, peacocks, deer, and wild boars. 

He tells how an aunt of his made 60,000 sesterces ($3000) 
in one year by raising thrushes for the Roman market, at 
a time when an excellent farm of about 200 acres only yielded 
30,000 sesterces per annum. He quotes another case of 
one who made 40,000 sesterces per annum from a flock of 



42 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

one hundred peacocks, by selling the eggs and the young. 
Those old Roman women weren't so slow. 

Ferrero calls Varro's work one of the most important 
for the history of ancient Italy and says historians have made 
a mistake in not reading it. 

At the time of the migration of the barbarians (350 to 
750 A.D.), the lot of each able-bodied man was about thirty 
morgen (equal to twenty acres) on average lands, on very 
good ground only ten to fifteen morgen (equal to seven or 
ten acres), four morgen being equal to one hectare. Of this 
land, at least a third, and sometimes a half, was left uncul- 
tivated each year. The remainder of the fifteen to twenty 
morgen suflSced to feed and fatten into giants the immense 
families of these child-producing Germans, and this in spite 
of the primitive technique, whereby at least half the produc- 
tive capacity of a day was lost. (From " The State," by 
Franz Oppenheimer, p. 11.) 

In the Orange Judd prize contest, merely for the clearest 
account of a garden, not for results at all, a number of the 
contestants raised produce at the rate of $150 to $400 per 
acre and over, even in semi-arid regions ; for instance, L. E. 
Burnham says that he raised on his first garden of about 
one third of an acre in eastern Massachusetts, garden stuff 
which he sold to summer cottagers for $61.69. 

This took about eight days' work, nearly all with a wheel 
hoe. 

Remember about the present increased and changing prices 
and costs ? At the present writing, 1917, the advances in costs 
and prices would probably average about three quarters, and 
those of common labor perhaps one third over those given in 
the text. In other respects, the instances and authorities, 
still pertinent, have been retained in this revision. 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 43 

It would have been waste, not thrift, to get a new authority 
to tell us that straw makes the cleanest mulch for straw- 
berries; that's the reason they were called strawberries, 
and they grew just the same way ten years ago. 

L. E. Dimosh of Connecticut raised on one quarter of an 
acre $146.21, of which over $85 was profit. 

In other cases the profits were $142 (Gianque, Nebraska) 
per acre ; and over $295 (Dora Dietrich, Pennsylvania) ; 
with the rather exceptional profit at the rate of $570 (Mrs. 
Hall, Connecticut). Some showed a loss. 

Some of the town or city lots yielded very high profits; 
one of a third of an acre gave a profit of $224.33 (Edge 
Darlington, Md.). 

The summary "based upon the reports of five hundred 
and fifteen gardens in nearly every state and territory and 
in Canada and the provinces, may be considered accurate 
and reliable. Covering such a vast territory local con- 
ditions are avoided." It shows that "the average size of 
farm gardens was 24,372 square feet, or about half an acre, 
the average labor cost $26.34, the average value of product 
was at the rate of $170 per acre, and the net profit over $80 
per acre." 

To get results we must first learn and then teach what we 
know. The finest game in the world is to teach. No one 
ever knows anything thoroughly till he tries to teach it. 

When you tell a person how to do a thing, he doesn't 
know how to do it himself. When you show him how to do 
it, still he doesn't know that he could do it himself. But 
when you get him to do it himself, then he knows. 

Country boys will believe that early tomatoes can be raised 
by starting them in the house ; but like the rest of us they 
don't know how to do it, and when spring comes and it is 



44 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

time to do such things, they are busy on the farm. There 
are several schools trying the experience of allowing the 
children to plant in window boxes in early April and are show- 
ing them how to do it. But as there is not room for all the 
children to plant in these window boxes, there is a new idea 
which originated in the country, where the children are en- 
gaged in the fall and the spring assisting their parents at 
agricultural work. 

It was hard to get up any interest in school gardens, but 
it was all the more important that they should have agri- 
cultural instruction in the winter time. 

At Berkeley Heights, N. J., we devised this simple plan, 
and it works. We made a number of wooden boxes, one 
foot wide, two feet long, so they will just fit on the ledge 
of a school desk. They are only three inches deep, with a 
bottom of tin, turned up at the edges, or of well painted pine, 
white-leaded at the joints. There is no drainage, since we 
discovered that if they are not watered too much, they do 
better without drainage. The holes usually made in the 
bottoms of flower boxes carry off a lot of plant food with 
the water that runs through. 

Now, how to store these boxes when they are not in the 
sunny places near the windows ? Why, we set up four posts 
of one-inch stuff at the four corners, so that the box looks 
like a kitchen table turned upside down (see illustration). 
Now the boxes filled with earth and with the young plants 
growing can be stored at night, one on top of the other, by 
the wall of the schoolroom. 

If it is going to be cold, and over Sundays, the pile of them 
can be covered with newspapers, which keep them from get- 
ting chilled and from drying up, or the boxes can be covered 
and carried home by the children. We found that for most 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 45 

plants nine inches is high enough for the posts, and that 
well-seasoned one-inch lumber is heavy enough not to 
warp if it is painted inside and out, and it is not too 
heavy to lift. 

By the way, better paint the joints before the sides are 
nailed together. It makes them more water-tight. Four 
screws at the corners will make them still tighter. 

The scholars raise lettuce, parsley, onions, and strawberries, 
and all kinds of small plants, as well as flowers, in the winter ; 
and when the plants get too big or two crowded for the boxes, 
they are separated and transplanted into other boxes to be 
taken home. 

This was so successful that we devised a big window box 
which is suited for home use also ; it is just as wide as the 
window and half as long again as it is wide. But this box 
does not stand outside on the window sill ; if it did, the plants 
would freeze. One end only rests on the inside window sill 
where it gets the sun ; the end is supported by two legs of 
the same height that the window sill is from the floor. 

When a nice warm day comes, the other end of the box 
is pushed out of the window and the sash closed down on it 
to keep it from falling out. A couple of cleats or nails in 
the window jamb help to hold it in place. 

Of course, the box has to be watched and taken in if it 
turns cold, but it's astonishing how much can be raised and 
how much more can be learned out of season by the school 
desk boxes and the home window sliding boxes. 

Try it and see for yourself. 

The children can learn as much about some things from a 
box 2X1 ft. as they can from a children's garden. Here 
are a couple of samples of what the kids themselves in a city 
school think of it. 



46 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

" Office of the Principal of Public School No. 7 
" Van Alst Ave., Astoria, Queens 

" I inclose a few compositions that were written by some of 
our boys and girls of the Fourth Year. You will recognize 
the descriptions of your Garden Trays for classroom use. 
Unfortunately the free space in the classroom is limited, so 
we have found it necessary to allow each pupil only part of 
a box. 

"The children themselves are delighted, as you can see 
by their compositions. 

" Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) "agnes a. cording 
" Asst Principal." 

P. S. No. 7 
Grade 4 A — April 21, 1915. 
Arthur Miller, Age 10 

OUR GARDEN 

At first we planted radishes then onions and lettuce and 
beans and sunflowers. Each one of us have i of a box. 
When we had finished that we brought them up to the front 
of the room and then watered them and went home. 

Anna Duerr, Age 8 

MY GARDEN 

I have a garden. It is a box. I have a quarter of a box 
for my very own. My garden has five rows. In the first 
there are radishes, in the second lettuce, in the third onions, 
in the fourth beans, in the fifth sunflowers. I hope my 
garden grows up. 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 47 

Of course these are only preparatory for profitable work. 
We have cases in which S2000 has been recorded from sales 
in one year from one acre, and many cases in which at least 
$1000 worth of produce has been sold from an acre. These 
are sales, not profits. 

Such results are not due to the boundless and fertile soil 
of the new w^orld nor to small farming alone — they are due 
to intelligence. 

Professor Ronna gives the following figures of crops per 
acre at Romford (Breton's Farm) : 28 tons of potatoes (say 
952 bushels), 16 tons of marigold, 105 tons of beets, 110 tons 
of carrots, 9 to 20 tons of various cabbages, and so on. 

It was suggested to the Agricultural Department that it 
might fix standards of what is a good attainable crop. 

On every golf links we have what is called a Bogie score 
posted up. That is a score that a certain mythical Captain 
Bogie, supposed to be an average good player, could make 
on those links. On one typical club course, for instance, 
the Bogie score is 42. Though it has been done in 37, the 
ordinary player congratulates himself when he gets down to 
the Bogie score. 

Now, if there were standards attainable to ordinary in- 
telligent and good cultivation set in each section, it would 
enormously encourage farmers to reach them, which may be 
of great importance. 

One of the heads of the Department replied as follows : 

"In regard to fixing a standard for each farmer to strive 
to attain, I think that a very good idea ; but the standard 
for each crop in each particular locality would necessarily 
be somewhat different from that in every other locality. 
Persons who have had experience in experimental work 
keenly appreciate these points. The work which is done 



48 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

upon one soil formation under different climatic conditions 
in one season, does not necessarily find a duplicate in any 
other locality, and the experience is that what is accomplished 
in one year would not be duplicated on the same soil and 
under the same management again in several years, for the 
conditions under which agriculture is carried on are so many 
of them outside of the control of the operator that it is very 
difficult to predict results or to attain any fixed standard. 
This is necessarily so with an operation which has so many 
uncertain factors to deal with as agriculture. Humidity 
of the atmosphere and of the soil, the available plant food 
in the soil, methods of tillage, fertilizers used, recurrence of 
frosts, amount of sunlight, the altitude and latitude of 
different localities, all have a bearing upon crop production. 
It is, therefore, very difficult to fix any approximate standard 
or average production for any particular locality without 
basing it upon a long series of years. I think, however, 
that it is a subject worthy of agitation, and it might inspire 
agriculturists to better work were such an ideal fixed upon." 

This indicates that each experiment station or progressive 
farmer or teacher of agriculture might advantageously estab- 
lish the local "Bogie score" of what might fairly be expected. 

We know how misleading averages are. The man who 
tried to wade across a stream whose average depth was two 
feet, was drowned. "The writer used to go to a fishing 
club of which Cornelius Vanderbilt was a member. One of 
the standard jokes there was that the thirty members are 
worth on an average over two million apiece, that is, Cor- 
nelius sixty millions, and the rest of us (comparatively) 
nothing. Which are you to be? A Vanderbilt among 
cultivators, or the other fellow who makes the * average'?" 
("Money Making in Free America," by the Author.) 



RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED 49 

But even making all allowances we see that we must 
cultivate much better than the "average/' to make anything 
more than the farmer's hard living off the land. Peter 
Dunne tells us what kind of a grind that is. 

"This pa-aper says th' farmer niver sthrikes. He hasn't 
got th' time to. He's too happy. A farmer is continted 
with his farm lot. There's nawthin' to take his mind 
off his wurruk. He sleeps at night with his nose against 
th' shingled roof iv his little frame home an' dhreams iv cinch 
bugs. While th' stars are still alight he walks in his sleep 
to wake th' cows that left th' call f'r four o'clock. Thin 
it's ho ! f'r feedin' th' pigs an' mendin' th' reaper. Th' 
sun arises as usual in th' east, an' bein' a keen student iv 
nature he picks a cabbage leaf to put in his hat. Break- 
fast follows, a gay meal beginnin' at nine an' endin' at nine- 
three. Thin it's off f'r th' fields where all day he sets on a 
bicycle seat an' reaps the bearded grain an' th' Hessian fly, 
with nawthin' but his own thoughts an' a couple iv horses 
to commune with. An' so he goes an' he's happy th' live- 
long day if ye don't get in ear-shot iv him. In winter he 
is employed keeping th' cattle fr'm sufferin' his own fate 
an' writin' testymonyals iv dyspepsia cures." (" Mr. 
Dooley Says.") 



CHAPTER VI 

WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 

We have shown what an acre has produced. You must 
figure out for yourself what you can make your acres pro- 
duce and what the product can be sold for. 

All progress in agriculture has come heretofore through 
experiments, made mostly by uninformed and untrained men. 
What may not be done by practical learning and applied 
intelligence? 

The wonderful recent advances have been made in just 
that way. 

"The modern improved methods in agriculture, known 
collectively as intensive farming, have nearly all had their 
origin in the hands of truck farmers and market gardeners. 
No class of the rural population is more alert in utilizing the 
newest researches and discoveries in all lines of agricultural 
science, and none keeps in closer touch with the agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations." ("Development of the 
Trucking Interests," by F. S. Earle.) 

Still, it is not advisable for the ordinary city dweller, how- 
ever intelligent, without other means and without either 
experience or study, to cast himself upon a small patch of 
ground for a living ; but if he can give it most of his time 
mornings and evenings, or if he sees, as many do, that he 
will be forced out of a position, it would be well for him 
seriously to consider intensive cultivation as a resource. 

50 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 51 

It would be the greatest blessing to our day laborers if 
they could secure an acre of land which they could till in 
conjunction with their other labor. If time and change so 
works upon society as to put the laborer out of a job, he will 
be safe in his acre home and can live from it and be happy 
and contented. 

The time required to cultivate an acre is much less than 
is generally supposed. 

The maximum time required seems to be that given in 
the University of Illinois Experiment Station at Urbana, 
Bulletin 61, by J. W. Lloyd, at the rate of 140 hours (say 
14 days) with one horse and 250 hours (say 25 days) for 
hand labor. With a great variety of crops, or with poor 
labor add one half to this time allowance. The results vary 
greatly. 

An acre of northeastern Long Island will produce 250 to 
400 bushels of potatoes at a selling price of fifty to seventy- 
five cents per bushel, which wholesale, at those figures 
much below present prices, bring an income of $125 to $300 
to the grower. The actual cash outlay in one instance was : 

Seed Potatoes $10.00 

Commercial Fertilizer 13.00 

Spraying for blight and pests 4.00 

$27.00 

250 bu. selling at the minimum price $125.00 

Less the cash outlay 27.00 

Income to the grower from an acre $98.00 

A production of 400 bushels costs no more cash outlay 
per acre, while the income is big wages to the farmer.^ 

1 If but one acre be grown and hand labor is used, the labor might 
cost an average of $40 per acre, with wages at $1.35 to $1.50 per 
day, and if the produce is shipped any distance by rail and con- 



52 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

An acre will bear if devoted to each crop, of : 

Blackberries, 10,000 qt., which at 7c. a qt. would bring . $700.00 

Dewberries, 9000 qt., say at 7c. a qt 630.00 

Gooseberries, 250 bu. at $2.00 a bu 600.00 

Strawberries, 8000 qt. at 5c. a qt 400.00 

Currants, 3000 plants yield 6000 bu 200.00 

Raspberries, per acre $200.00 to 600.00 

Peaches, per acre 200.00 to 400.00 

Pears, per acre 200.00 to 500.00 

Apples, per acre 100.00 to 500.00 

Grapes 100.00 

Five, or even three acres will give a good living if this 
can be approximated : 

An acre will produce in vegetables — either 

Asparagus, 3000 bunches at 20c. a bunch, would be . . $600.00 

Cauliflower, 100 to 300 bbl. at $1.50, say 450.00 

Onions, 600 bu. at 75c. per bu 450.00 

Cabbage Seed, 1000 lb. at 40c. a lb 400.00 

Brussels Sprouts, 3000 qt. at 10c. a qt 300.00 

Celery, 6000 bunches at 5c. a bunch 300.00 

Parsnips, 300 bu. at $1.00 a bu 300.00 

Lettuce, 9000 heads at 3c. a head 270.00 

Lima Beans, 50 bu. at $5.00 a bu 250.00 

We may hope to get from an acre, respectively, in 

Potatoes, 300 bu. at 75c. a bu., would be $225.00 

Cabbages, 20 tons at $10.00 a ton 200.00 

Carrots and Beets, 200 to 400 bu 150.00 

Tomatoes, 200 crates at 75c. a crate 150.00 

Early Peas, 50 bu. at $2.00 a bu 100.00 

Turnips, 400 bu. at 25c. a bu 100.00 

Spinach, 100 bbl. at 50c. a bbl 50.00 

signed, it would cost $40 to $50 to pay selling charges, leaving you 
a profit of about $30 per acre on this crop. Other crops in the rota- 
tion might not be so profitable, hence it is not fair to figure an in- 
come on one. But, of course, in the above estimate, we are consid- 
ering mainly the cases where the gardener does the work and earns 
the wages himself. 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 53 

Mr. D. L. Hartman, whose experience in the North is 
given on a later page, has since moved to Little River, Florida. 
He writes in 1917 : 

"I have recently sold the last strawberries of a small 
plot. Owing to a combination of circumstances it pro- 
duced, I think, the largest value per area of any crop I have 
ever cultivated. The main factors were high prices realized 
and heavy yield. 
Area of plot, a trifle over one fifth acre. Total yield, 2295 

quarts, total receipts, $4703.80. 
First berries picked January 2nd ; last berries picked June 

26th; Variety, Brandy wine. 

"This shows a yield of 11,107 quarts per acre worth at 
the same rate, $3398.00. 

" The fruit was all sold to stores in Miami (five miles dis- 
tant) and brought an average you notice of 30f cents per 
quart for the crop, the highest bringing fifty cents per 
quart. The average price during the ordinary seasons is 
about twenty cents per quart. My ordinary average yield 
is less than half of this yield or about 5000 quarts per acre, 
and that is much above the average of most yields of other 
growers. The crop was started with northern plants, set 
just as for matted rows in the North, then early in November 
plants were dug up and set out in order in rows 12 inches 
apart and 8^ inches apart in the row, leaving every fifth 
row vacant for paths. It is super close culture; one plant 
per square foot for the total area or a little more. 

" I often think that if I were operating in the North again 
I would like to try strawberries the same way, except that 
I would do the transplanting September 1st instead of No- 
vember 1st as here, since I would expect them to grow larger 
and of course I would plan to mulch them during the winter. 



54 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

It would take a lot of planting but I think it would insure a 
tremendous yield. I find that the digging and planting 
including watering of 1500 plants makes ten hours' work, 
with elimination of all waste motion." 

You will not get as good results as Mr. Hartman's average, 
unless you learn as much as he has learned ; he has succeeded 
by well-directed work in different places and circumstances. 

The South and West are not the only places in the United 
States where a man can live on one acre of ground, by in- 
tensive culture and with irrigation. The Eastern and 
Middle States can present just as good, if not better, op- 
portunities, especially where land in small tracts is available 
near the large cities.^ 

At Hyde Park, a little village three miles north of Read- 
ing, Pa., there is a small farm owned by Oliver R. Shearer, 
who may be said to be one of the most successful farmers in 
the United States. This farm contains 3i acres, only 2^ of 
which are cultivated, but they yield the owner annually 
from $1200 to $1500. From the profits of his intensive 
farming, Mr. Shearer has paid $3800 for his property, 
which, besides the land, consists of a modern two-story brick 
house, with barn, chicken-yard, and orchard, the whole 
surrounded by a neat fence. He has also raised and educated 
a family of three children. 

* The Farmers^ Advocate (Topeka, Kansas) says of lands which 
ten years ago were among the much advertised "abandoned farms" 
of the eastern states: "All over the eastern states where farming 
twenty years ago was pronounced a failure under western competi- 
tion, there has sprung up this intensive cultivation. Violets are 
grown in one place and tuberoses by the acre in another. Celery 
is making one man's large profit near Williamsburg. Special fruits 
are cultivated. Currants are grown by the ton and sold by the 
pound, yielding a profit. This is in progress over the entire range 
of farming." 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 55 

There are no secrets, Mr. Shearer says, about his method 
of farming. A study of conditions, the application of com- 
mon-sense methods and untiring energy, he asserts, will 
enable others to do what he has done, but that most men 
would kill themselves with the work. 

In an agricultural exchange a small farmer tells that he 
makes a living and saves some money from a ten-acre farm. 
Before he was through paying for his land, which cost $100 
an acre, building his house, fences, and outbuildings, he went 
in debt $1300, having about the same amount to start with. 
He is near a good market, and in five years has paid off the 
debt, and has been getting ahead ever since. He raises poul- 
try and small fruits, and says that it is a good combination, as 
most of the work with poultry comes in winter, while he can do 
nothing out of doors. He maintains that a ten-acre farm 
rightly managed will bring a good living, including the com- 
forts and some of the luxuries of life, and says : " This I have 
fully demonstrated, and what I have done others may do." 

MaxioelVs Talisman says : 

"E. J. O'Brien of Citronelle, Alabama, received $170 clear 
from an acre of cucumbers shipped to the St. Louis market. 
He was two weeks late in getting them on the market. He 
says those two weeks would have meant nearly double the 
net returns. He does not consider this an extraordinary re- 
turn and hopes to do better next year." 

"Professor Thomas Shaw writes of a plot of ordinary 
ground in Minnesota comprising the nineteenth part of an 
acre, which for years kept a family of six matured persons 
abundantly supplied with vegetables all the year, with the 
exception of potatoes, celery, and cabbage. In addition, 
much was given away, more especially of the early varieties, 
and in many instances much was thrown away." 



56 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"In the market-gardens of Florida we see such crops as 
445 to 600 bushels of onions per acre, 400 bushels of to- 
matoes, 700 bushels of sweet potatoes; which testify to a 
high development of culture." (Same, page 101.) 

We select from Bailey's "Principles of Vegetable Garden- 
ing" the following general estimates: 

Beets — Average crop is 300-400 bushels per acre. 

Carrots — Good crop is 200-300 bushels per acre. 

Cabbage — 8000 heads per acre. 

Potatoes — The yield of potatoes averages about 75 
bushels per acre, but with forethought and good tillage and 
some fertilizer the yield should run from 200 to 300 bushels, 
and occasionally yields will much exceed the latter figure. 

Rhubarb — From 2 to 5 stalks are tied in a bunch for mar- 
ket, and an acre should produce 3000 dozen bunches. 

Salsify — Good crop 200-300 bushels per acre. 

Onions — A good crop of onions is 300-400 bushels to the 
acre, but 600-800 are secured under the very best conditions. 

The price per ton for horseradish varies from ten to fifty 
dollars, and from two to four tons should be raised on an 
acre, the latter quantity when the ground is deep and rich 
and when the plants do not suffer for moisture. 

Averages are very misleading and it would be better to 
pay little attention to them. They are like the average 
wealth possessed by a class of twenty schoolchildren. The 
schoolmaster who had $20 asked what was the average 
wealth of each, if the total wealth of the class was $20. The 
brightest boy answered, "One dollar." The schoolmaster 
asked Tommy at the foot of the class if he did not think they 
would be a prosperous class. He answered, "It depends on 
who has the * twenty.'" 

But, all the more, good averages imply some wonderful 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 57 

yields. The following are actual averages in the United 
States Twelfth and Thirteenth Census Report, respectively. 

Flowers and plants, 12014 and $1911 ; nursery products, 
$170 and $261; sugar cane, $87 (4 tons per acre) and 
$5540; small fruits, $81 and $110; hops, $72 (885 lb. per 
acre) and $175 ; sweet potatoes, $37 (79 bu. per acre) and 
$55 ; hemp, $34 (794 lb. per acre) and $54 ; potatoes, $33 
(96 bu. per acre) and $45; sugar beets, $30 (7 tons per 
acre) and $54; sorghum cane, $21 (1 ton per acre) and 
$23; cotton, $15 (4-10 bale per acre) and $25.70; flaxseed, 
$9 (9 bu. per acre) and $14; cereals, $8 and $11.40. 

Specialties, however, often do much better. For example, 
R. B. Handy, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 60, United States 
Department of Agriculture, tells us that a prominent and 
successful New Jersey grower says : 

" I cannot give the cost in detail of establishing asparagus 
beds, as so much would depend upon whether one had to 
buy the roots, and upon other matters. Where growers 
usually grow roots for their own planting the cost is prin- 
cipally the labor, manure, and the use of land for two years 
upon which, however, a half crop can be had. 

"The cost of maintaining a bed can only be estimated per 
acre as follows : 

Manure (applied in the spring) $25.00 

Labor, plowing, cultivating, hoeing, etc 20.00 

Cutting and bunching 40.00 

Fertilizer (applied after cutting) 15-00 

Total $100.00 

"An asparagus bed well established, say five years after 
planting, when well cared for should, for the next ten or 
fifteen years, yield from 1800 to 2000 bunches per annum, 
or at 10 cents per bunch (factory price) $180 to $200." 



58 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"If the rent, labor, etc., for a crop of asparagus is $200 
per acre, and the crop is three tons of green shoots at $100 
per ton, on the farm, the profit is $100 per acre. If we 
get six tons at $100 per ton, the profit, less the extra cost of 
labor and manure, is $400 per acre." ("Food for Plants,'* 
by Harris and Myers, page 19.) 

Around Bethlehem, Indiana, the farmers raise hundreds 
of tons of sunflower seed every year, and the industry pays 
better than anything else in the farming line. A good deal 
of the seed is made into condition powder for stock, occa- 
sionally some is made into so-called "olive oil" which is 
said to surpass cotton-seed oil. Large quantities are used 
for feeding parrots and poultry, or consumed by the Rus- 
sian Hebrews who eat them as we would eat peanuts. 

A careful investigation made in 1898 of the value of cer- 
tain productions taken from farms in New York State shows 
that the culture of apples is very profitable. From twenty 
adjoining farms in one neighborhood in western New York, 
the report gave an average annual return of $85 per acre at 
the orchard, covering a period of five years. Another 
report gave an average of $110 annual income per acre for 
three years, and these results were obtained where only 
ordinary care was given to the orchard. But note this. — 

One orchard, where the trees had been well sprayed to 
protect the fruit from insect injuries, and the soil well cul- 
tivated and properly fertilized, gave a return in one year of 
$700 per acre, and for three years an average income of $400 
per acre. 

One man bought a farm of 100 acres in Central New 
York with a much-neglected orchard upon it of 30"acres, 
paying $5000 for the whole. He cultivated the orchard, 
pruned and sprayed the trees thoroughly, and in seven months 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 59 

from the time he purchased the farm, sold the apple crop 
from it for $6000 cash. 

"Peanuts: Culture and Uses," by R. B. Handy in Far- 
mers' Bulletin No. 25 of the United States Department of 
Agriculture says: 

"According to the Census the average yield of peanuts 
in the United States was 17.6 bushels per acre, the average 
in Virginia being about 20, and in Tennessee 32 bushels per 
acre. This appears to be a low average, especially as official 
and semioflScial figures give 50 to 60 bushels as an average 
crop, and 100 bushels is not an uncommon yield. Fair 
peanut land properly manured and treated to intelligent ro- 
tation of crops should produce in an ordinary season a 
yield of 50 bushels to the acre and from 1 to 2 tons of ex- 
cellent hay. (Of course better land with more liberal treat- 
ment and a favorable season will produce heavier crops, the 
reverse being true of lands which have been frequently 
planted with peanuts without either manuring or rotation of 
crops.) Besides the amount of peanuts gathered, there are 
always large quantities left in the ground which have es- 
caped the gathering, and on these the planter turns his herd 
of hogs, so that there is no waste of any part of the plant." 

Tobacco is a paying crop if the soil is just right. Two 
thousand pounds per acre can be raised on favorable sites. 
Connecticut tobacco brings, in ordinary times, from twenty to 
thirty cents a pound ; from four to over six hundred dollars 
being the possible return. 

Some Connecticut soils raise Sumatra tobacco equal to 
the imported crop that sells in this country at fancy prices. 
The Department of Agriculture claims that the Cuban 
type of tobacco can be closely approximated in Pennsylvania 
and Ohio. 



60 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

But it must be remembered that the soil is of paramount 
importance in tobacco raising. The Department has pre- 
pared soil maps of most of the important tobacco districts 
of the United States. If you think your land may be suited 
to tobacco, apply there for information. You may make 
your land invaluable. 

D. L. Hartman, Rural Neio Yorker, gave the following facts 
and figures : " During last season the sales from one acre of 
early tomatoes amounted to $454, and from a trifle more than 
two and one half acres, including the acre of 'earlies,' the 
remainder mid-season and late plantings, the total sales 
amounted to over $900. From a little less than one acre and 
a half $555 worth of strawberries were sold, while the re- 
turns from early cabbages during the last few years have 
been at the rate of about $300 per acre. These statements 
are not made in the spirit of challenge. The results are 
gratifying to me, because larger than anticipated ; but much 
greater values can be and are produced. In fact, the limit 
of value that may be grown on an acre of land no one can tell. 
I have a small plot of ground containing less than one sixth 
of an acre, planted one year with radishes and lettuce, fol- 
lowed by eggplant and cauliflower, and the next year to rad- 
ishes alone, followed by egg-plant, and each year the total 
sales amounted to over $200, at the rate of $1200 per acre. 
Greatly exceeding even this was a smaller plot, measuring 
20 X 65 feet, last year, planted first to pansies, plants sold 
when in bloom, followed by radishes, of which one half 
proved to be a worthless variety (it lay idle long enough to 
have produced another crop of radishes), then half was planted 
to late lettuce, the other half being sown for winter cabbage, 
plants yielding no cash return. Yet the total sales for the 
season from this small plot, less than one thirty-second of an 



WHAT AN ACRE MAY PRODUCE 61 

acre, was $86.78, at the rate of the surprising sum of $2780 
per acre, and could easily have been raised to the rate of 
$4000, and that without the use of any glass whatever. 
Truly the possibilities of the soil are unknown." 

The cooperative features used by Northeastern Long 
Island intensive farmers are worthy of imitation. In the 
community of Riverhead a club buys at wholesale rates 
commodities which the farm and household require. The 
club does a large business, and has a high rating in the com- 
mercial agencies. In another instance at Riverhead an 
association markets the crop of cauliflower, sending cars of 
such produce to Cincinnati and Chicago. These are the 
best forms of cooperation. 

"In the market-gardening sections the banks show pros- 
perity. In the towns of Riverhead and Southold there are 
savings banks with deposits of $4,000,000 each, and five 
business banks which are doing a thriving business. In 
this stretch of thirty miles on eastern Long Island the farms 
are mostly free from encumbrance of any kind. 

"It should be noted, however, that their towns have the 
open Sound with its bays which furnish open ways for trans- 
portation and an unowned field for work." (From circular 
of the Long Island Guild of New York City.) 



CHAPTER VII 

SOME METHODS 

We must not put all our time into one crop unless we are 
rich enough to do our own insurance ; for drought, or damp, 
or accident, ill-adapted seed, or general unfavorable con- 
ditions may make failures of one or more crops. But in 
variety and succession of crops is safety and profit. In 
order to succeed, crop must be made to follow crop, so that 
the ground is used to its full capacity. To leave it fallow 
for even a week is to invite weeds and to lose much of the 
advantage of tillage, as well as so much time. 

In the North, seeds of many kinds should be sown from 
the first of March to the first of August ; in the South they 
should be sown in every month. 

By following the simple time tables for planting you will 
find work ready and crops maturing and ready for sale in 
every month in the year. 

There is an admirable table of the time to plant, given in 
"How to Make a Vegetable Garden," though it does embrace 
some weird vegetables, explaining, for instance, that "Pats- 
choi is used like chards," and that "Scolymus is sowed like 
Scorzonera." 

One can live while waiting for the crops to come up, for 
many crops mature rapidly. 

Specialties give employment only during a few months 
of each year and bring returns only at periods of the year, 

62 



SOME METHODS 63 

but the returns can be made almost immediate and the work 

almost continuous. 

Long Island and Jersey farmers in marketing their crops sell 

Spinach and Radishes in April 

Peas, Early Onions, and Lettuce in May 

Asparagus and Strawberries in June 

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Cabbage Seeds ... in July 

Early Potatoes, Peaches, and Beans in August 

Onions and Potatoes in September 

Celery in October 

Cauliflower in November 

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts in December 

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts in January 

Brussels Sprouts in February 

Brussels Sprouts in March 

This order of crops can be varied to suit conditions. 

"The old practice of growing vegetables in beds usually 
entails more labor and expense than the crop is worth ; and 
it has had the effect of driving more than one boy from the 
farm. These beds always need weeding on Saturdays, holi- 
days, circus days, and the Fourth of July. Even if the 
available area is only twenty feet wide, the rows should 
run lengthwise and be far enough apart (from one to two 
feet for small stuff) to allow of the use of the hand wheel- 
hoes, many of which are very efficient. If land is available 
for horse-tillage, none of the rows should be less than thirty 
inches apart, and for late growing things, as large cabbage, 
four feet is better. If the rows are long, it may be neces- 
sary to grow two or three kinds of vegetables in the same row ; 
in this case it is important that vegetables requiring the same 
general treatment and similar length of season be grown to- 
gether. For example, a row containing parsnips and sal- 
sify, or parsnips, salsify, and late carrots would afford an 
ideal combination ; but a row containing parsnips, cabbages. 



64 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

and lettuce would be a very faulty combination. One part 
of the area should be set aside for all similar crops. For 
example, all root crops might be grown on one side of the 
plot, all cabbage crops in the adjoining space, all tomato 
and eggplant crops in the center, all corn and tall things 
on the opposite side. Perennial crops, as asparagus and 
rhubarb, and gardening structures, as hotbeds and frames, 
should be on the border, where they will not interfere with 
the plowing and tilling." ("Principles of Vegetable Gar- 
dening," page 31.) 

Usually where large acreages are worked there is a tendency 
to devote a greater portion of the land to one crop and some- 
times a failure in this crop will mean ruin to the farmer, 
whereas, where small areas are used, there is generally a 
diversity of the higher-priced crops and a failure in one is 
not so likely to be disastrous. 

To get the greatest production from the soil two crops can 
be grown in the same soil at the same time — one of which 
will mature much earlier than the other, thereby giving its 
place up just about the period of growth when the second 
crop would need more room. This is known as companion 
cropping. 

"In companion cropping there is a main crop and a 
secondary crop. Ordinarily the main crop occupies the 
middle part and later part of the season. The secondary 
crop matures early in the season, leaving the ground free 
for the main crop. In some cases the same species is used for 
both crops, as when late celery is planted between the rows 
of early celery. 

Following are examples of some companion crops : 

Radishes with beets or carrots. The radishes can be sold 
before the beets need the room. 



SOME METHODS 65 

Corn with squashes, citron, pumpkin, or beans in hills. 

Early onions and cauliflower or cabbage. 

Horseradish and early cabbage. 

Lettuce with early cabbage." ("Principles of Vegetable 
Gardening," page 184.) 

If fruit trees be planted, vegetables may be grown in 
rows. As soon as the early vegetables mature they are 
removed, and a midsummer crop planted. These are fol- 
lowed by a fall or winter crop. 

Radishes, lettuce, and cabbage grow at the same time 
and on the area formerly used for one crop. Early potatoes 
and early cauliflower are followed by Brussels sprouts and 
celery, two crops being as easily grown as one by intelli- 
gent handling. The best beans are grown among fruit 
trees. 

The principles of "double-cropping" are summarized by 
Professor Thomas Shaw, in The Market Garden. 

" Onion sets may be planted early in the season and onion 
seeds may then be sown. Between the rows cauliflower may 
be planted. Later between the cauliflower, two or three 
cucumber seeds may be dropped. The onion sets up around 
the cauliflower may be taken out first, and the cauliflowers 
in turn may be removed in time to let the cucumbers 
develop. 

"Midway between the rows of onions grown from seeds, 
we can plant radishes, lettuce, peppergrass, spinach, or some 
other early relish, which will have ample time to grow and 
to be consumed before harm can come to the onions from 
the shade of any one of these crops. When the onions are 
well grown, turnips can be sown midway between their 
rows." 

So we get two crops of onions, besides cauliflowers, cu- 

F 



66 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

cumbers, radishes, and turnips off the same place. Weeds 
won't have much chance in soil treated like that. 

"Multum in Parvo Gardening" (Samuel Wood) claims 
£620 ($3100) from one acre by the expenditure of con- 
siderable capital in growing fruit against brick walls — it 
cost over $3100 to prepare the land, of which the walls cost 
$2300. In this system the fruit trees are pruned and 
trained till they look like firemen's ladders. 

" In the suburbs of Paris, even without such costly things, 
with only thirty-six yards of frames for seedlings, vegetables 
are grown in the open air to the value of £200 per acre." 
("Fields, Factories and Workshops," page 80.) 

"At the present time, for fully 100 miles along the Rhone, 
and in the lateral valleys of the Ardeche and the Drome, the 
country is an admirable orchard, from which millions' worth 
of fruit is exported, and the land attains the selling price 
of from £325 ($1625) to £400 ($2000) the acre. Small 
plots of land are continually reclaimed for culture upon every 
crag." (Same, page 133.) 

In California we hear (from George P. Keeney) that while 
good truck and fruit lands usually sell for $25 to $350 per 
acre, the land with full-bearing fruit or nut trees often sells 
at $1000, and even up to $2000 per acre. There is no 
reason why any intelligent persons should not make their 
land increase in the same way. 

The London Daily News reports that in one year, which 
was not a good season for all crops, on a half acre of land, 
Mr. Henry Vincent, of Brighton, England, raised the fol- 
lowing products: 

2660 cabbages, 70 bushels spinach, 950 cauliflowers, 
parsley, 1460 lettuces, 660 broccoli, 16 bushels potatoes, 
19i bushels Brussels sprouts, 106i gallons peas, 120 gallons 



SOME METHODS 67 

artichokes, flowers, 267 vegetable marrows, 2976 carrots, 
264 bundles radishes, 14 gallons French beans, 12 gallons 
currants, 95i punnets mustard, 27 pounds mushrooms, 
rhubarb, 948 bushels sprout tops, 38 dozen leeks, 1150 plants, 
11-f gallons broad beans, 97 bundles sea-kale, 978 bundles 
of asparagus-kale, 504 beet roots, 2913 gallons gooseberries, 
219 bundles mint, 20 bundles sage, 18 bundles of fennel, 
thyme, besides one cartload of stones. 

Mr. Vincent explains how he came to go into intensive 
cultivation : " A few years ago the doctors said if I did not 
go out more I could not live. Very well, just at that time 
there was an outcry about the land not paying for culti- 
vation. I could not understand this, for as a boy at seven 
years of age I had to go out to farm work, therefore I never 
went to school. Anyhow I thought something was very 
wrong if the land would not pay; so, to compel myself 
to go out in the fresh air, I took an allotment on the 
Sussex Downs to work in the early morning before my 
daily duties began. I might say that I am a waiter, and 
have been in my present situation forty years, so you can 
understand I could not know much of land or garden 
work. I could not see my way clear in the few spare 
hours I get to take more than half an acre of land to 
garden early, especially as I started knowing practically 
nothing about such work, but I can manage to do my half 
acre all alone. 

"My garden is situated on the Brighton Race Hill ridge, 
and twelve years ago it was but four inches of soil on chalk, 
but I now have a foot of soil on the whole of the half acre, 
and year by year my profits increase. 

"Yes, get the men to stop on the land in this country. 
We ought not to have workhouses. Every man could live, 



68 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

and live well, if he could get the land, and would work it as 
it should be worked. 

"Farmers and landowners grumble because the land does 
not pay. Now for the fault. It is quite evident it is not the 
land, therefore, it must be the fault of the man. Very well, 
get the land from these landed proprietors, by sale preferred, 
and let it out to men, not by 1000 acres, as no man can farm 
well a thousand acres in England ; let the farms be greatly 
reduced, and then the land can be treated as it should be. 
Most of us have children, and we all know how we love and 
treat them. Treat the land in the same manner, feed it, 
and keep it clean, and you will have no cause to complain. 
The land of old England is as good as it ever was. 

"I have serious thoughts of opening a kind of school for 
people who would like to make $500 a year off an acre. It 
is to be done, and done easily. I do know that one man 
alone can manage two acres, and at the end of this year I 
shall be able to tell how much more he can manage alone, 
so under my system one can gain £4 a week off two acres 
and do all one's self. 

"If the land will produce over one hundred pounds per 
year per acre, is it not wrong for a man to have, say, 500 or 
1000 acres which in no way can he properly manage ; as, in 
the first place, he cannot feed such an acreage, let alone keep 
it clean and gather in his crops?" 

In truth, what an acre may produce depends on time, 
place, and circumstance. The product of the best acre of 
land so situated that its product could be sold at retail in a 
near-by market, and which has been cultivated under the 
best management for a term of years, would provide a very 
comfortable living. The product of other acres, measured 
by what they produce to the cultivator in living, declines 



SOME METHODS 69 

through various grades down to almost nothing on the acre 
far from railroads or difficult of access. 

While in quantity and quality the least favored acre 
could be made to produce as much as one best situated, yet, 
almost none of its production would be available to sell, 
while the product of the favorably located acre could be 
sold as rapidly as grown. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE KITCHEN GARDEN 

The aim of the kitchen garden is to provide an abundance 
and variety of food for the family. As the object of the 
cultivator is to get the largest product for his labor, he 
ought to produce all that he can consume on the least pos- 
sible area. Though one may go into mushrooms or frog 
raising as a money crop, the kitchen garden is the first in- 
dispensable and should first be given attention. 

For a garden choose a piece of land with a southern ex- 
posure, sheltered on the north and west by woods, buildings, 
hedge, or any kind of a windbreak. This arrangement 
will give the earliest garden, for it gets all the sun there is. 
By running the rows north and south, the rays of the sun 
strike the eastern side of the row in the morning, and the 
western side in the afternoon. 

The best time to take hold of a piece of land is in the fall, 
because then it can be plowed ready for the spring planting. 
The alternate freezing and thawing during the winter breaks 
up the sod and the stiff lumps thrown up by the plow, so 
rendering the soil pliable and easily worked. This is espe- 
cially true of land that has been reclaimed from the forest, or 
which has not been farmed for many years. 

Before the plowing is done, the land for the garden should 
be manured at the rate of twenty-five large wagon loads 

70 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN 71 

to the acre. If you can get a suitable plot that has been in 
red clover, alfalfa, soy beans, or cowpeas, for a number of 
years, so much the better. These plants have on their 
roots nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which draw nitrogen from the 
air. Nitrogen is the great meat-maker and forces a pro- 
longed and rapid growth of all vegetables. 

After manuring and plowing, harrow repeatedly with a 
disk or cutaway harrow until the soil is as fine as dust. Then 
you have a seed bed which will give the fine roots a chance 
to grow as soon as the seeds sprout. Too much stress can- 
not be laid upon the importance of thoroughly working the 
soil at this time. Every stone, weed, or clod that is left 
in the soil destroys to that extent the source from which the 
plants can get their food. 

A quarter-acre garden, which is big enough to supply the 
whole family with a succession of vegetables for summer and 
fall, as well as some potatoes and turnips for winter, will 
take a diligent workman about four days to dig over and 
three days to plant. The four days' work of digging will 
need to be done only once. The time spent upon planting 
succession crops will depend upon the amount of the garden 
reserved for rotation. The part kept for lettuce, radishes, 
spinach, beets, Swiss chard, peas, string and wax beans 
may be digged over in a favorable season for three successive 
plantings, while the part devoted to early potatoes would 
need to be digged only twice — once when the planting is 
done, and again when crop is gathered and the ground be 
prepared for a crop of late cabbage or turnips. A planting 
table for vegetables, which is complete and comprehensive, 
is distributed free by the National Emergency Food Garden 
Commission at Washington, D.C. 

It is far more important to plant seeds at the proper depth 



72 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

than that they should be planted thinly or thickly, for if 
they are planted too thin, it makes a sort of advantage by 
giving the individual plants ample room to develop to large 
size ; and if planted too thick, the evil can easily be remedied 
by thinning or transplanting. 

After the seeds come up, the size of almost all the vege- 
tables can be increased by transplanting, in favorable soil, 
which gives each plant room for complete development. 

It is too expensive to risk part of the land being unused 
or half used on account of seeds dying, or to put in so many 
seeds in order to insure growth that they will crowd one 
another. Where possible, therefore, seeds should be sprouted 
and planted, not "sown." 

Lima beans planted on edge with eye down will come up 
much sooner than if dropped in carelessly so they have to 
turn themselves over. In a small garden the time saved 
by such planting will repay the extra trouble. 

In some things like onions and radishes, however, it is 
better to sow them thick, and then thin them out, so as to 
get the effect of transplanting without so much labor. In 
others, like lettuce and all the salad plants, transplanting 
gives new life and energy and develops the individual plants 
in a way that will astonish those not familiar with what 
free development means. 

It is wise to plant corn after lettuce and radishes are 
gathered, and more lettuce, corn, or salad, after the beans 
are picked. Then late crops, cabbage, cauliflower, or spinach, 
can go where early corn grew, so that the small patch may 
earn your living and pay big dividends. 

Do not let two vegetables of the same botanical family 
follow each other. For instance, lima beans should not fol- 
low green beans or peas, as all the family draw about the same 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN 73 

elements from the soil, and are likely to have the same in- 
sects and diseases. 

Do not plant cucumbers, squash, or pumpkins too near 
each other, as they will often inter-impregnate and produce 
uneatable hybrids. 

Decide what you are going to do with your crop before 
you plant it, whether to sell it, at wholesale or at retail, to 
eat it, or to feed it to stock. 

C. E. Hunn, in the Garden Magazine, gives the following 
arrangement : " For the beginner who wants to get fresh 
vegetables and fruits from May until midwinter, a space 
100 X 200 feet is enough. 

"1. Plant in rows, not beds, and avoid the backache. 

"2. Plant vegetables that mature at the same time near 
one another. 

"3. Plant vegetables of the same height near together 
— tall ones back. 

" 4. Run the rows the short way, for convenience in cul- 
tivation and because one hundred feet of anything is 
enough. 

"5. Put the permanent vegetables (asparagus, rhubarb, 
sweet herbs) at one side, so that the rest will be easy to 
plow. 

" 6. Practice rotation. Do not put vines where they were 
last. Put corn in a different place. The other important 
groups for rotation are root crops (including potatoes and 
onions) ; cabbage tribe, peas and beans, tomatoes, eggplant 
and pepper, salad plants. 

" 7. Don't grow potatoes in a small garden. They aren't 
worth the bother. 

" The following small fruit garden requires 100 X 100 feet. 
Small fruits planted this year will yield next year. 



74 



THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



Fruits 



Strawberries, early . . 
Strawberries, mid-season 
Strawberries, late . . 
Raspberries . . . . 



Blackberries 
Currants . . 
Grapes . . . 
Peaches (6) . . 
Plums (6) . . 
Pears, dwarf (6) 



Length of Rows 


Distances Be- 


TO Plant 


tween Plants 


100 feet 


li X 4 feet 


100 feet 


li X 4 feet 


100 feet 


li X 4 feet 


200 feet 


3X5 feet 


e last for canning.) 


200 feet 


6X6 feet 


100 feet 


3X4 feet 


200 feet 


8X8 feet 


100 feet 


15 X 15 feet 


100 feet 


15 X 15 feet 


100 feet 


15 X 15 feet 



" By training on trellis or wire, the smaller fruit plantings 
can be made much closer. 

"If fruits are wanted in the garden, plant a row of apple 
trees along the northern border^ plums and pears on the 
western sides, cherries and peaches on the eastern side. 
Next the apple trees run a grape trellis ; and then in succes- 
sion east and west, run a row of blackberries, raspberries, 
gooseberries, and currants. These rows, with the apple trees, 
form a windbreak, and besides adding to the income, pro- 
tect the vegetables. Next to the bush fruits, between them 
and the ends of the vegetable rows, put rhubarb, asparagus, 
and strawberries." 

Insect pests must be watched for and their destructive 
work checked. Ashes, slaked lime, or any kind of dust or 
powder destroy most insects which prey on the leaves of 
plants. The reason for this is that the dust closes the pores 
through which the insects breathe. It should therefore 
be applied when the leaves are dry. 

Cutworms can be destroyed by winter plowing. Rotation 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN 75 

of vegetables will reduce the damage from insects, because 
each family has its peculiar bugs. By constant change to 
new soil, the pests have no opportunity to get a foothold. 

With bugs, as with boys, only those who are interested 
in them and therefore understand them can manage them. 
It is fun to study the insects — and it pays. 

It is difficult to give any fixed rule as to how much one 
may expect to produce on land devoted to the kitchen garden. 
As an example of what the most unskilled may do, the Ninth 
Report of the Vacant Lot Cultivation Association mentions 
a sample garden of one hundred square feet of Philadelphia 
land cultivated by school children ten to twelve years of 
age as producing the following: 

String Beans, 1| pints $ .10 

Lettuce, 40 heads 2.00 

Lima Beans, 2^ pecks 75 

Tomatoes, 2| pecks 1.00 

Beets, 6 bunches 30 

Cabbages, 3 heads ^ 15 

Radishes, 20 bunches 1.00 

$5.30 

See how we can learn from our children. The values in 
money are given to show what can be saved in household 
expense by raising our own stuff. 

This rate of production carried out on a quarter-acre 
garden would have a money value of more than $500. The 
Superintendent believes that wuth care and good market 
facilities a quarter acre could easily be made to produce 
an average yield of that much or more. 

W. F. Fairbrother, of New Jersey, in the Garden Magazine, 
gives the following cost and product from a garden 22 X 34 
feet, before the war: 



76 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Debit 

Manure, 1 double load $2.50 

Fertilizer, 50 pounds .75 

Poultry wire, 50 yards 2.50 

Posts, 12 at 12ic 1.50 

Tin strips, 4 25 

Seeds 1.55 

Tomato and Pepper plants .40 

Total $9.45 



Credit 

Lima Beans, 7 qt. at 12c. per quart ^ $ .84 

Brussels Sprouts, 12 qt. at 25e. per quart 3.00 

Onions (white) 15 qt. at 15c. per quart 2.25 

Peas, 3 qt. at 10c. per quart .30 

Beans, 38 qt. at 10c. per quart 3.80 

Cucumbers, 200 at Ic. each 2.00 

Peppers, 150 at l|c. each 2.25 

Muskmelons, 19 at 8c. each 1.52 

Turnips, 96 at l^c. each 1.44 

Beets (425), 106 bunches at 3c. per bunch 3.18 

Radishes, 75 bunches at l|c. per bunch 1.13 

Lettuce, 81 heads at 5c. per head 4.05 

Tomatoes, 6 bushels at 50c. per bushel 3.00 

Parsley estimated at .75 

Total $29.51 

On this 748 square feet of land the net profit is shown to 
be about three cents per square foot or 1300 for a quarter- 
acre plot. 

Here's another use of "land." Maybe a pool in your 
garden or a dam in a little brook in it may help out your 
home garden bank account. Of course a pond a few square 
yards in extent will give even better returns if you can sell 
its produce at retail near by. 

W. B. Shaw, a seventy-year-old veteran who lost his right 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN 77 

arm during the Civil War, lives in Kenil worth, D. C, and 
clears $1500 an acre every year out of mud puddles — if 
mud puddles can be measured by the acre. 

Mr. Shaw is a pond lily farmer, and despite his lack of his 
good right arm, he poles his boat about his mud puddles 
and gathers in the pond lilies. His is not exactly a "dry 
farm" and neither wet nor cloudy weather bothers him. 
Furthermore, the demand for his pond lilies in Baltimore, 
Washington, Philadelphia, and even New York, and Chicago, 
is greater than he can supply. 

Mr. Shaw secured this swamp for almost nothing, as it 
was considered worthless. He divided it into fifteen pools 
with little dams between them, and rollers on the dams to 
enable him to drag his boat from one to the other. From 
May to late in September he is busy every morning gathering 
lilies. His average is about 500 a morning, which he ships 
in little galvanized iron tanks with wet moss. 

Many school children know how to get results on a little 
land. Mr. Mahoney, Superintendent of the Fairview Gar- 
den School, Yonkers, New York, estimates that the total 
value of produce grown on the 250 gardens, composing the 
school plot, in all about one and one quarter acres of land, 
was $1308, or at the rate of more than a thousand dollars 
per acre. When it is taken into consideration that all the 
labor was done by boys ranging in age from eight to twelve 
years, this result is truly astonishing. 

What may not adult skilled labor produce when applied 
freely to the land? 

Mr. Julian Burroughs, in the Garden Magazine, reports 
that on two strips of land measuring 20X100 and 10X50 
feet, 2500 square feet in all, he secured the following 
results : 



78 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Cost 

Seed $2.10 

Manure (3 loads ; not enough) 3.00 

Ashes (3 barrels of wood) 1.20 

One half bag of potato fertilizer 1.25 

150 ft. of wire netting for peas 1.20 

$8.75 

Receipts 

Melons, 100 at 10c $10.00 

Squash, 20 at 20c 4.00 

Peas, 4 bushels at $2.00 8.00 

Beets, 4 barrels at $1.00 4.00 

Lettuce, 100 heads at 5c 5.00 

Corn, 400 ears at Ic 4.00 

Beans 1.00 

Tomatoes, 3 bushels at $1.00 3.00 

Cabbages, late cauUflower, radishes, onions 2.00 

$41.00 

Net profit $32.75, or about one and one third cents per 
square foot. As we have shown above, this may be doubled 
and trebled. 



CHAPTER IX 



|TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT — SPECIALIZING CROPS 

To subdue the land with an ax, a plow, and a spade is 
possible; millions of acres have been so subdued. This 
method, however, is the most expensive of all, as in our times 
markets won't wait, and the man who wants to get on must 
produce as quickly as possible. To do so, he must have the 
best tools. They will pay for themselves many times over in 
a single year. For the farm, the following list, in addition 
to a well-stocked tool chest (hammer, saw, plane, ax, etc.) 
covers the indispensable : 

1 team horses (these may be hired) S200.00 

1 walking plow 10.00 

1 disk or cutaway harrow 25.00 

1 farm wagon 50.00 

1 cultivator (2 horse) 25.00 

1 one-horse cultivator 8.00 

Shovels, pick, mattock or grubbing hoe 10.00 

Work harness for two horses 25.00 

$353.00 

These things you must have to get the land in proper shape 
for seeds or plants; but special crops require special tools. 
A scythe is good to keep weeds away from the fences. A 
sickle is handy to keep down rank grass. To reduce living i 
expenses, a cow for $60, and fifty hens at fifty cents each, 
say $25, will supply a large family with milk and eggs. Most 

79 



80 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

people make the mistake of buying too many things and 
these poorly selected. It is better to have too few tools 
than too many, for tools are often dropped where last used, 
and so are lost. Then if money is scarce, you may not be 
able to make a shelter for your machines and tools, and they 
will rust through the winter. Many farmers, through neg- 
lect, have to replace their tool equipment every four or five 
years, but with attention and care, the original equipment, 
even to the team, ought still to be in use twenty years after 
their purchase. I know many instances where this is true. 
The above equipment is the minimum for beginning work. 
The character of additions to it will depend much upon the 
crops which you select as the money getters. 

For general market gardening and the kitchen garden too, 
the following tool list, together with the above, will include 
everything absolutely necessary. 

Wheel hoe $6.00 

Spade and fork, each $1.00 2.00 

Push hoe .65 

Watering can .60 

Rake and common hoe 1.00 

Bulb sprayer .25 

Trowel JO 

$10.60 

The wheel hoe is a great saver — of backache, especially 
to the beginner ; as Warner says, " at the best you will con- 
clude that for gardening purposes a cast-iron back with a 
hinge in it is preferable to the ones now in use." 

The dibble, an old tool handle, or a bit of broomstick 
sharpened, and garden lines to get the rows straight, labels, 
tomato supports, plant protectors and stakes can all be home- 
made out of old material. The full outfit would include the 
following : 



TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT 81 

Roller $8.00 

Wheel-hoe with seeder 8.50 

Sprayer 3.75 

Wheelbarrow 4.00 

Crowbar 1.50 

Weeder 35 

For such crops as admit of horse cultivation a horse hoe 
will save a great deal of time. 

The weeder is a cousin to the push hoe and has a zigzag 
blade for cutting off young weeds which are just starting 
above ground. It is pushed backward and forward and 
cuts both ways. It is very good for soft ground; on a 
harder patch use the push hoe. 

A market garden is really a big kitchen garden, from 
which the cultivator supplies not only his own family, but 
his neighbors, the public. To run a successful market gar- 
den for profit, land suitably situated near transportation 
and markets, a large supply of stable manure, hotbeds for 
raising plants, crates for shipping, wagons for delivering, 
and a complete outfit of tools are necessary. You must raise 
all sorts of vegetables and salad plants in quantities suf- 
ficiently large to justify you in giving your whole time to 
the work. An acre devoted to general market gardening 
could be attended to by two men with some extra help for 
marketing. 

To get a place fully established on new, rich land requires 
two or three years. On worn-out land it would take longer 
to build it up to the high fertility needed for maximum pro- 
duction. Crops like asparagus and rhubarb take two years 
to establish on a remunerative basis. If bush fruits are 
raised, three years are required to get maximum results. So 
in starting, land should be bought outright or leased for ten 
years. 

G 



82 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

In market gardening for profit, one acre might be devoted 
to vegetables, one acre to small fruits; strawberries, rasp- 
berries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, etc., and one 
acre kept for buildings, poultry, etc. An energetic man could 
clear one thousand dollars a year besides his living, after he 
got a start, and be absolutely independent; that is, unless 
some predatory railroad corporation could confiscate his 
profits before his product reached the market. 

Some persons are just naturally so successful with plants 
that if they stuck an umbrella in the ground we should ex- 
pect to see it blossom out into parasols — but they don't 
know why it does, and they can't teach any one else how to 
do it. 

Any fool can sneer at "book farming" or at anything else, 
but you can hardly succeed without the best books by prac- 
tical men. Do not let some experienced ignoramus talk 
you out of experimenting under their guidance. You will 
learn little without experience, and unless you have the 
grower's instinct, you will learn less without books. 

Don't be hypnotized by long experience or by success. 
Hardly anybody knows his own business. You must have 
noticed that few of the people you buy of or sell to, know 
any more of their goods than you do. 

It is just the same with trades. Hardly a barber knows 
that he should not shave you against the grain of the skin. 
Even the cat won't stand being rubbed up the wrong way ; 
but the barber never thought of that. 

We lawyers and the doctors are supposed to be thorough 
in our own field — I said lately to one of the ablest men at 
the New York Bar, " About one lawyer in a hundred knows 
his business." He said, "That is a gross overestimate." 
Shortly after I talked with three Judges, one of the City 



TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT 83 

Court, one of the Supreme Court, and one of the United 
States Circuit, and they each agreed that my friend's remark 
was about true, and that in most cases litigants would 
do as well without lawyers as with them. 

If that is true, what chance is there that an uneducated 
man who has "raised garden sass ever since he was a boy, 
and seen his father do it before him," can teach you cor- 
rectly ? 

Men learn very slowly by experience, because no two ex- 
periences are exactly alike, unless they perceive and apply 
the principles under the experience. 

An intelligent man accustomed to investigation can learn 
more about a specialty in a week's study than an untrained 
practitioner can believe in a year. 

What the untrained teacher can tell us is of little account ; 
what he shows us is another matter. 

Therefore get help who know that they don't know 
anything about a garden and who consequently will do with 
a will exactly what you tell them to do ; such labor is cheap 
— why should you pay extravagant prices for skill to a man 
who has succeeded so poorly that he can only earn day's 
wages ? You can get much better knowledge at less cost 
from a book. Study and put your knowledge into practice 
yourself, where you see promise of a profit. 

Almost every crop can be made a specialty. In proportion 
as special crops are profitable when conditions are right, so 
are they sources of loss when things go wrong. If, after your 
first season in the country, some special crop takes your 
fancy, give extra space and time to it the second year and 
see if you are successful in handling an eighth or a quarter 
acre. If so, you may extend your operations as rapidly as 
purse and market permit. 



84 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Before concentrating upon any crop as the chief source of 
income, a careful study must be made of all the conditions 
surrounding its production; a crop is not produced in the 
broad meaning of that term until it is actually in the hands 
of the consumer. 

Potatoes, for instance, are grown by the hundred acres in 
sections adapted to their growth, and special machinery 
costing hundreds of dollars is used in planting, cultivating, 
and harvesting the crop. The good shipping and keeping 
qualities of the potato enable it to be raised far from mar- 
kets and so brings into competition cheap land worked in 
large areas, with large capital. In spite of this, however, 
the small cultivator can usually make money if he can sell 
his potatoes directly to the consumer. 

If your land is so situated that you can put your indi- 
viduality into the crop and can control all the circumstances, 
preparation of land, planting, cultivation, harvesting, and 
marketing, your chances of success are immeasurably in- 
creased. As soon as any important part must be trusted 
to some one beyond your control, danger arises. Assiduous 
care in planting, cultivating, and packing will avail nothing 
if the product falls into the hands of transportation com- 
panies or commission merchants indifferent as to what be- 
comes of it. It is therefore better to be quite independent, 
sell your own crop, and have the whole operation in your own 
hands from the very beginning. 

Generally speaking, seed growing for the market is a 
highly developed special business which is usually carried 
on by companies operating with large capital, able to em- 
ploy the best experts, and to avail themselves of all the ad- 
vantages of scientific methods in culture, regardless of ex- 
pense. So uncertain is the business, that even with all 



TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT 85 

these facilities, they rarely guarantee seeds. It is obvious 
that the amateur has little chance of succeeding in such a 
difficult business. Nevertheless, he will be able after a few 
seasons of increasing experience to gather seeds from selected 
plants and so furnish his own supply. It must be borne in 
mind, however, that plants can be improved by cross breed- 
ing and that by keeping a variety too long on the same 
ground its quality deteriorates, and the plant tends to re- 
vert to the type natural to it before domestication. 

When land is cropped every season, the nitrogen, potash, 
and phosphorus removed from the soil must be replaced in 
some form, otherwise you have diminishing returns, while 
the expense for labor is the same. In farming small areas 
for specialties you cannot easily invoke the principle of ro- 
tation by enriching the land with legumes, to be plowed under 
while green, the bacteria on the roots of which gather nitro- 
gen from the air, but you must get stable manure or buy 
chemical fertilizers to maintain the fertility. 

Special crops divide themselves naturally into two classes : 
those raised for immediate shipment to market, and those to 
be hauled to canneries. The first type are generally prepared 
in a more expensive way, and need more care and attention. 
Each class requires its own special forms of packing to con- 
form to market peculiarities fixed by the taste of consumers. 

For the cultivation of all specialties, many items of prep- 
aration are identical. Land must be well drained, it must 
contain a sufficient amount of humus, or decaying vegetable 
matter, to make it loose and porous ; it must be free from 
sticks and stones or any foreign matter likely to impede cul- 
tivation or obstruct growth. The proper formation of a 
seed bed is a prime prerequisite to successful cropping. 
After the land is manured and plowed it should be gone over 



86 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

in all directions with a disk and smoothing harrow, until it 
is of a dustlike fineness. 

In thorough cultivation before the crop is planted, lies 
the secret of many a success, and in its neglect the cause 
of many failures. Intelligent handling of crops is in a large 
measure knowledge of the influence of wind and rain, sun- 
shine and darkness, on the particular nature of the plant. 
Delicate plants, for example, ought to be grown where 
buildings or forests break the force of prevailing winds. 
Sheltered valleys in irrigated sections have proved the best 
for intensive cultivation. For thousands of years in China 
and Japan the conditions of successful intensive cultivation 
have been well understood, and to-day the most efficient 
gardeners are the Chinese. In some parts of Mexico, for 
the same reasons, intensive cultivation has reached a high 
development. In our own West we are catching up on vege- 
tables and fruits. 



CHAPTER X 

THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 

We have seen what a worker with very little money can 
do and how he can succeed. A small capital, however, can 
be used to increase the returns to as great advantage on a 
small farm as large capital can be used on a large farm and 
with much less risk. 

Stable manure is still the favorite article with the masses 
of gardeners. One ton of ordinary stable manure contains 
about 1275 pounds of organic matter, carrying eight pounds 
of nitrogen, ten pounds of potash, and four pounds of phos- 
phoric acid. 

When thoroughly rotted, the manure acquires a still larger 
percentage of plant food ; it is more valuable, not only for 
that reason, but also on account of its immediate avail- 
ability. Further, the mechanical effect of this manure 
in opening and loosening the soil, allowing air and warmth 
to enter more freely, adds greatly to its value. 

It is easily gotten and often goes wholly or in part to 
waste. On the outskirts of some towns may be seen a col- 
lection of manure piles that have been hauled out and dumped 
in waste places. The plant food in each ton of this manure 
is worth at least two dollars — that is the least Eastern 
farmers pay for similar material, and they make money 
doing it. Yet almost every liveryman has to pay some one 
for hauling the manure away. This is simply because farmers 

87 



88 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

living near these towns are missing a chance to secure some- 
thing for nothing — because, perhaps, the profit is not 
directly in sight. But from most soils there is a handsome 
profit possible from a very small application of stable manure. 

While writing this, I saw a man in New Rochelle, N. Y., 
dumping a load of street sweepings into a hole in a vacant lot. 
It would have been less wasteful to have dumped a bushel 
of potatoes into the hole. 

Commercial fertilizers are coming more and more in use 
by market gardeners, and with reason. If we examine a 
good fertilizer, analyzing five per cent available nitrogen, six 
per cent phosphoric acid, and 8 per cent potash, we shall find 
that one ton of it contains, besides less valuable ingredients : 
100 lb. nitrogen, 120 lb. phosphoric acid, 160 lb. potash. 

Such fertilizers probably retail at forty to sixty dollars per 
ton, and are fully worth it. All this plant food, and perhaps 
one half more, can be drawn in a single load, while it will 
take ten such loads of stable manure to supply the same 
amount of plant food. 

There is no reason to be afraid of too much fertilizer, pro- 
vided it is evenly distributed and thoroughly mixed through 
properly prepared soil. Stinginess in this item is poor 
economy. 

Nitrogen is the most essential food for plant growth. It 
is an important element of plant food in manure. In ordi- 
nary manure most of the value is due to the nitrogen, al- 
though phosphoric acid and potash are also present. It is 
found in the most available form in nitrate of soda. Nitrate 
of soda will benefit all crops, but it does not follow that it 
will pay to use it on all crops. Its cost makes it unprofitable 
to use on cheap crops; but on those that yield a large re- 
turn nitrate of soda is a very profitable investment. 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 



89 



"It is shown in the experiments conducted with nitrate 
of soda on different crops that in the case of grain and forage 
crops, which utiUzed the nitrate quite as completely as the 
market garden crops, the increased value of crops due to 
nitrate does not in any case exceed $14 per acre, or a money 
return at the rate of $8.50 per 100 pounds of nitrate used, 
while in the case of the market-garden crops the value of the 
increased yield reaches, in the case of one crop, the high 
figure of over $263 per acre, or at the rate of about $66 per 
100 pounds of nitrate." (New Jersey Agricultural Ex- 
periment Stations, page 8, No. 172.) 

Professor Voorhees, of the same station, experimented 
with tomatoes, with these results : 



Manuke and Fertilizer Used Per Acre 

No manure 

30 tons barnyard manure . , . 
8 tons manure and 400 lb. fertilizer 
160 lb. nitrate of soda alone . . 




Value of Crop 
Per Acre 

$271.88 
291.75 
317.63 
361.13 



Such common crops as tomatoes, cabbage, turnips, beets, 
etc., in order to be highly profitable, must be grown and 
harvested early; any one can grow them in their regular 
season ; their growth must be promoted or forced as much as 
possible, at the time when the natural agencies are not 
active in the change of soil nitrogen into available forms, and 
the plants must, therefore, be supplied artificially with the 
active forms of nitrogen, if a rapid and continuous growth 
is to be maintained. 

It is quite possible to have a return of $50 per acre from 
the use of $5 worth of nitrate of soda on crops of high value, 
as, for example, early tomatoes, beets, cabbage, etc. This 
is an extraordinary return for the money and labor invested ; 



90 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

still, if the increased value of the crop were but $10, or even 
$8, it would be a profitable investment, since no more land 
and but little additional capital was required in order to 
obtain the extra $5 or $8 per acre. 

The results of all the experiments conducted in different 
parts of the country and in different seasons, show an aver- 
age gain in yield of early tomatoes of about fifty per cent, 
with an average increased value of crop of about $100 per 
acre. The rest of the report shows similar results with other 
crops. (New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Bul- 
letin 172.) 

Joseph Harris says, ** Some years ago we used nitrate of soda 
cautiously as a top dressing on the celery plants. The effect 
was astonishing. The next year, having more confidence, we 
spread the nitrate at the time we sowed the seed, and again 
after the plant came up, and twice afterward during a rain. 

" Instead of finding it difficult to get the plants early enough 
for the celery growers who set them out, they were ready 
three weeks before the usual time of transplanting. 

"At the four applications, we probably used 1600 lb. of 
nitrate of soda per acre, and this would probably furnish 
more nitric acid to the plants than they could get from five 
hundred tons of manure per acre, provided it had been pos- 
sible to have worked such a quantity into the soil. Never 
were finer plants grown. As compared with the increased 
value of the plants, the cost of the nitrate is not worth 
taking into consideration." 

As a means of fertilization without the use of artificial 
fertilizer, soil inoculation has come. It has grown out of 
the discovery of the dependence of leguminous plants on 
bacteria which live on their roots. The discovery is one of 
the most important of those made in modern agriculture. 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 91 

It has received its greatest impetus in America, under the 
experiments of Professor Moore of the United States Agri- 
cultural Department. 

The Department supplied free to farmers the bacteria 
for inoculation. Now they supply it only for experimental 
purposes. A laboratory has been fitted up for the work. 
The method is to propagate bacteria for each of the various 
leguminous plants such as clover, alfalfa, soy beans, cow 
peas, tares, and velvet beans. All of these plants are of 
incalculable value in different sections of the country as 
forage for farm animals. In the West, alfalfa is the main 
reliance for stockraisers. The farmers of the East are 
trying to establish it, but meet with difiiculty chiefly for 
want of the special bacteria which should be found on the 
roots. 

The function of these bacteria is to gather the nitrogen of 
the air and supply it as plant food. Without the bacteria 
the plant can get only the nitrogen which is supplied from 
the soil in fertilizers. With the aid of the bacteria the grow- 
ing plant can derive the greater part of its food from the air. 

Here is one of the results of the use of inoculated seed as 
reported by the United States Agricultural Bulletin No. 214. 

G. L. Thomas, experimenting with field peas on his farm 
near Auburn, Me., made a special test with fertilized and 
unfertilized strips, and stated that "inoculated seed did as 
much without fertilizers of any kind, as uninoculated seed 
supplied with fertilizer (phosphate) at the rate of 800 pounds 
and a ton of barnyard manure per acre." 

This seems to be only in its infancy. The Department 
warns us that nitrogen inoculation is useless where the soil 
already has enough nitrogen and where other plant foods 
are absent. 



92 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

The experiments are most Important, and we are probably 
on the eve of as great advances in agriculture as in electricity, 
but the human race has a great love for "inoculation," and 
indeed for all unnatural processes. 

You remember the story of the wonderful coon that Chand- 
ler Harris tells? No? They were constantly seeing this 
enormous coon, but always just as they almost got their 
hands on him, he disappeared. One night the boys came 
running in to say that the wonderful coon was up in a per- 
simmon tree in the middle of a ten-acre lot ; so they got the 
dogs and the lanterns and guns and ran out, and sure enough 
they saw the wonderful big coon up in a fork of the tree. 
It was a bright moonlight night, but to make doubly sure 
they cut down the tree and the dogs ran in — the coon 
wasn't there. 

"Well, but, Uncle Remus," said the little boy, "I thought 
you said you saw the coon there." 

" So we did. Honey," said the old man, " so we did ; but it's 
very easy to see what ain't there when you're looking for it." 

Another method of increasing fertility at increased ex- 
pense deserves notice. The vacant public lands are for the 
most part desert-like, and their utilization can come about 
only through irrigation. 

This land can be made to produce the finest crops in the 
world ; and the tremendous volumes of water that flow 
from the mountains to the sea, once harnessed and piped or 
ditched to this land, will transform it into beautiful gardens 
and farms. 

With the work being done by the United States Govern- 
ment, and that of the various states, we may look forward 
in the not distant future to this land being made habitable 
to man. 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 93 

It is well known that with the dry, even climate and with 
an abundance of water applied as vegetation needs, this 
now arid waste is far more productive than the Eastern 
states, where the crops are at the mercy of the elements, 
sometimes having too much moisture and at other times not 
having enough. 

" Irrigation offers control of conditions such as is found no- 
where except in greenhouse culture. The farmer in the humid 
country cannot control the amount of starch in potatoes, 
sugar in beets, protein in corn, gluten in wheat, except by 
planting varieties which are especially adapted to the pro- 
duction of the desired quality. The irrigation farmer, on 
the other hand, can produce this or that desirable quality 
by the control of the moisture supply to the plant. He can 
hasten or retard maturity of the plant, produce early truck 
or late truck on the same soil, grow wheat or grow rice as 
he deems advisable." 

"On the irrigated fields of the Vosges, Vaucluse, etc., in 
France, six tons of dry hay becomes the rule, even upon 
ungrateful soil ; and this means considerably more than the 
annual food of one milch cow (which can be taken as a little 
less than five tons) grown on each acre." 

"The irrigated meadows round Milan are another well- 
known example. Nearly 22,000 acres are irrigated there 
with water derived from the sewers of the city, and they 
yield crops of from eight to ten tons of hay as a rule ; oc- 
casionally some separate meadows will yield the fabulous 
amount — fabulous to-day but no longer fabulous to-mor- 
row — of eighteen tons of hay per acre ; that is, the food of 
nearly four cows to the acre, and nine times the yield of good 
meadows in this country." ("Fields, Factories, and Work- 
shops," pages 116-117.) 



94 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"If irrigation pays" — and no one now questions that — 
"the whole Western country of rich soil, which asks but a 
drink now and then, will be turned into a Garden of Eden." 
{MaxwelVs Talisman.) 

Agriculture may be revolutionized with the advent of 
irrigation. 

A new method of disposing of sewage and at the same time 
irrigating the soil, has come into use recently, and will be 
found valuable to those who are situated so that they can 
make use of it. 

The sewage from buildings is drained into a large tank 
where the heavier matter can settle to the bottom. When 
the water rises nearly to the top of the tank it is siphoned 
into another tank, and from there it is piped about the 
field. 

The piping is very simple — ordinary drain tile conveys 
the water. Beginning at the highest point of the field to be 
irrigated, a six-inch (or larger) line of tile should be laid 
along the highest ground with a fall of not over one inch 
to each ten feet. From this main trunk should be branch 
lines of "laterals," laid from eight to twelve feet apart, as 
they would be laid for draining a field. These branch lines 
may be laid at an angle to the main trunk as may be most 
convenient; all the joints must be covered so as to keep 
out the dirt. The whole system should be laid deep enough 
in the ground to be secure from frost ; but to be most effec- 
tive it should not be over fourteen to sixteen inches below 
the surface, hence sub-irrigation cannot be used very suc- 
cessfully in the Northern states. In a sandy loam soil with 
a clay subsoil it works best at sixteen to twenty-four inches. 

This is substantially Colonel Waring's method of sewage 
disposal. To get the best use of it for plants, the water should 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 95 

be assembled and kept in the sun for ten to twelve days, 
then turned into the pipes until the ground is well soaked, 
and then shut off and not allowed in the pipes again for ten 
to fifteen days, according to the weather and condition of 
moisture in the soil. The crop should be cultivated between 
each watering. 

However, as Bailey says, "Evidently in all regions in 
which crops will yield abundantly without irrigation, as in 
the East, the main reliance is to be placed on good tillage." 

" Most vegetable gardeners in the East do not find it prof- 
itable to irrigate. Now and then a man who has push and 
the ability to handle a fine crop to advantage, finds it a very 
profitable undertaking." ("Principles of Vegetable Gar- 
dening," page 174.) Bailey, however, was not thinking of 
" overhead irrigation." 

The late J. M. Smith, Green Bay, Wisconsin, was one of 
the expert market gardeners of his region. "The longer I 
live," wrote Mr. Smith, then in the midst of a serious drought, 
"the more firmly am I convinced that plenty of manure 
and then the most complete system of cultivation make an 
almost complete protection against ordinary droughts." 
(Same, page 330.) 

If the soil is cultivated carefully and intensively, it will 
hold water within itself and carry a storage reservoir under- 
neath the growing crop. Finely pulverizing and packing 
the seed bed, makes it retain the greatest possible percent- 
age of the moisture that falls, just as a tumbler full of fine 
sponge or of birdshot will retain many times the amount of 
water that a tumbler full of buckshot will. The atmos- 
phere quickly drinks up the moisture from the soil unless we 
prevent it. This we do by means of a soil "blanket," called 
a "mulch." This finely pulverized surface largely prevents 



96 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the moisture below from evaporating, and at the same time 
keeps the surface in such condition that it readily absorbs 
the dew and the showers. Water moves in the soil as it 
does in a lamp wick, by capillary attraction ; the more deeply 
and densely the soil is saturated with moisture, the more 
easily the water moves upward, just as oil "climbs up" a 
wet wick faster than it does a dry one. One can illustrate 
the effect of this fine soil "mulch" in preventing evaporation 
by placing some powdered sugar on a lump of loaf sugar and 
putting the lump sugar in water. The powdered sugar will 
remain dry even when the lump has become so thoroughly 
saturated that it crumbles to pieces. 

"We have no useless American acres," said Secretary 
Wilson. "We shall make them all productive. We have 
agricultural explorers in every far corner of the world ; and 
they are finding crops which have become so acclimated to 
dry conditions, similar to our own West, that we shall in 
time have plants thriving upon our so-called arid lands. 
We shall cover this arid area with plants of various sorts 
which will yield hundreds of millions of tons of additional 
forage and grains for Western flocks and herds. Our farmers 
will grow these upon land now considered practically worth- 
less." 

In this way it has been estimated that in the neighborhood 
of one hundred million acres of the American desert can be 
reclaimed to the most intensive agriculture.^ Frederick V. 
Coville, the chief botanist of the Department of Agriculture, 
does not hesitate to say that in the strictly arid regions 
there are many millions of acres, now considered worthless 

* See a study of the possible additions to available land in Prof. 
W. S. Thompson's "Population, a Study of Maithusianism," Col. 
U., 1915. 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 97 

for agriculture, which are as certain to be settled in small 
farms as were the lands of Illinois. 

Land that was thought to be absolute desert has been 
made to yield heavy crops of grain and forage by this method 
without irrigation. 

Macaroni wheat will grow with ten inches of rainfall, 
and yield fifteen bushels to the acre. This however is less 
than the average wheat yield in the United States. 

Much can be done by dry farming ; that is, by plowing the 
soil very deep and cultivating six or eight times a season, 
thus retaining all the moisture for the crops and reducing 
evaporation to a minimum. 

There are thousands of acres in different sections of Mon- 
tana that grow good crops without irrigation. In Fergus 
County, for instance, the wonderful yield of 45 bushels of 
w^heat per acre is grown without irrigation. Heavy crops 
of grain and vegetables are grown in the vicinity of Great 
Falls by the dry farming system. 

The money and time spent in spraying is also well in- 
vested. The New York Agricultural Experiment Station 
began a ten-year experiment in potato-spraying to determine 
how much the yield can be increased by spraying with 
Pyrox or with Bordeaux mixture. 

In 1904 the gain due to spraying was larger than ever 
before. Five sprayings with Bordeaux increased the yield 
233 bushels per acre, while three sprayings increased it 191 
bushels. The gain was due chiefly to the prolongation of 
growth through the prevention of late blight. The sprayed 
potatoes contained one ninth more starch and were of better 
quality. 

The average increase of profit per acre from spraying 
potatoes was figured to be about $22 on each acre. The 

H 



98 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

result was arrived at from experiment, two thirds of which 
was by independent farmers. (Particulars will be found in 
Bulletin No. 264, issued by the Department.) 

In fourteen farmers' business experiments, including 18 
acres of potatoes, the average gain due to spraying was 62j 
bushels per acre, the average total cost of spraying 93 cents 
per acre; and the average net profit, based on the market 
price of potatoes at digging time, $24.86 per acre. 

"One class of gardeners," Burnet Landreth explains, 
"may be termed experimental farmers, men tired of the 
humdrum rotation of farm processes and small profits, men 
looking for a paying diversification of their agricultural in- 
terests. Their expenses for appliances are not great, as 
they have already on hand the usual stock of farm tools, 
requiring only one or two seed drills, a small addition to 
their cultivating implements, and a few tons of fertilizers. 
Their laborers and teams are always on hand for the work- 
ing of moderate areas. In addition to the usual expense of 
the farm, they would not need to have a cash capital of be- 
yond 20 to 25 dollars per acre for the area in truck." 

"Other men, purchasing or renting land, especially for 
market gardening, taking only improved land of suitable 
aspect, soil, and situation, and counting in cost of building, 
appliances, and labor, would require a capital of $80 to $100 
per acre. For example, a beginner in market gardening in 
South Jersey, on a five-acre patch, would need $500 to set 
up the business, and run it until his shipments began to 
return him money. With the purpose of securing informa- 
tion on this interesting point, the writer asked for estimates 
from market gardeners in different localities, and the result 
has been that from Florida the reports of the necessary 
capital per acre, in land or its rental (not of labor), ferti- 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 99 

lizers, tools, implements, seed and all the appliances, 
average $95, from Texas $45, from Illinois $70, from the 
Norfolk district of Virginia the reports vary from $75 to 
$125, according to location, and from Long Island, New York, 
the average of estimates at the east end is $75, and at the 
west end $150." 

I have before me now one of the roseate advertisements, 
which we so often see in the newspapers, telling how fortunes 
can be made by investing a few dollars in a tropical planta- 
tion in Mexico. 

It gives what are supposed to be startling yields per acre, 
and yet the returns, which must necessarily be taken with 
considerable allowance, are only from $580 to $1087 per 
acre on various plantations. 

There are market gardeners and nurserymen near New 
York City who are making their acres produce better returns 
than this. It is not necessary to go off into the tropical 
wilderness seeking a fortune which is usually a gold brick 
that some fellow is trying to sell you, when as good results 
can be secured right at home. 

Market gardeners in and near Philadelphia pay $25 to 
$50 an acre and upwards rent for land, and work from five 
to forty acres. This is as much as similar land in many 
parts of the country could be bought for. But it is not a 
high rent when they are right at the market — one man 
makes the round trip in two and one half hours — manure 
costs them nothing — for years they have been using the 
excavations from the old style privy wells, which has been 
hauled to their farm and deposited where they wished it, 
free. They have modern facilities, such as trolley and tele- 
phone, and are as much city men as any clerk in an office. 
They clear far higher profits from an acre than the average 



100 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

farmer, raising never less than two, and often three crops 
in a season. They employ several men to the acre, and at 
certain times many more, working the men in gangs. Only 
the difficulty of getting good help at their prices prevents 
them from using twice the number. 

However, the possibilities of putting capital into land at 
a profit are still infinite. 

What chiefly attracts the gardener to the great cities is 
stable manure; this is not wanted so much for increasing 
the richness of the soil — one ninth part of the manure used 
by the French gardeners would do for that purpose — but 
for keeping the soil at a certain temperature. Early vege- 
tables pay best, and in order to obtain early produce, not 
only the air, but the soil as well, must be warmed ; that is 
done by putting great quantities of properly mixed manure 
into the soil ,* its fermentation heats it. But with the present 
development of industrial skill, heating the soil could be 
done more economically and more easily by hot- water pipes. 
Consequently, the French gardeners begin more and more to 
make use of portable pipes, or thermosiphons, provisionally 
established in the cool frames. 

Competition that stands in with the railroads can be met 
only by being near the market or having water transporta- 
tion. Indeed, the effect of water transportation in getting 
manure, and in delivering the produce from the railroads, 
appears in the early history of trucking. The railroads 
often crush out boat competition by absorbing docks and 
standing in with the commission men. This could be met 
by such cooperative selling agencies as the flower growers 
already have. 

"One of the earliest centers for the development of truck 
farming in its present sense was along the shores of Chesa- 



THE ADVANTAGES FROM CAPITAL 101 

peake Bay, where fast sailing oyster boats were employed 
for sending the produce to the neighboring markets of Balti- 
more and Philadelphia. In a similar way the gardeners about 
New York early began pushing out along Long Island, using 
the waters of the Sound for transporting their produce. The 
trucking region on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan is 
another sample of the effect of convenient water transpor- 
tation in causing an early development of this industry. The 
building of the Illinois Central railroad opened up a region 
in southern Illinois that was supposed to be particularly 
adapted to fruit growing." ("Development of the Trucking 
Interests," by F. S. Earle, page 439.) 

If one goes into the trucking business on so large a scale 
as to be able to make deals with the railroads, such as The 
Standard Oil Company has made, of course additional prices 
could be gotten, owing to the possibility of putting competi- 
tors at a disadvantage. That business is a large one. 

In doing business on this scale, much will depend on your 
ability as a merchant. 

"It is useless to grow good crops unless they can be sold 
at a profit; yet it is safe to say that ten men grow good 
truck crops for one who markets them to the best advantage." 



CHAPTER XI 

HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 

Whether to get an early start on the garden or for raising 
plants for field crops, a hotbed is all but indispensable. In 
making a hotbed what we seek to do is to imitate Nature 
at her best, so get the best soil and the sunniest spot you can 
find. 

In all hotbeds the underlying principle is the same : 
They are right-angled boxes covered with glass panes set 
in movable frames and placed over heated excavations. 
The bed may be of any size or shape, but the standard one 
is six feet wide, since the stock glass frames are usually six 
feet long by three feet wide. You can have any length 
needed to supply your requirements. "Tomato Culture,'* 
by A. J. Root, tells us that the cheapest plan is to get some 
old planks, broken brickbats or stone, and piece together a 
box-like affair in proper shape : to provide drainage, the 
front should be at least ten inches above the ground and the 
rear fourteen inches. A hotbed knocked together in this 
way is all right to start with, if you cannot do any better, 
but will last only two or three seasons. For a permanent 
bed, probably the best way is to make cement walls extend- 
ing to the bottom of the manure. The bed ought to face 
south or southeast and be well protected on the north. It 
should be banked all around with earth or straw to keep out 
the cold, and mats or shutters should be provided for extra 
cold weather. The best material for heating the bed and the 

102 



HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 103 

most easily obtained, is fresh horse manure in which there 
is a quantity of straw or Utter. This will give out a slow, 
moist heat and will not burn out before the crops or the 
plants mature. Get all the manure you need at one time. 
Pile it in a dry place and let it ferment; every few days 
work the pile over thoroughly with a dung fork ; sometimes 
two turnings of the manure are enough, but it is better to 
let it stand and heat three or four times. 

" You can make a hotbed also on top of the ground with- 
out any excavation. Spread a layer of manure evenly one 
foot in depth and large enough to extend around the frame 
three feet each way. Pack this do^\Ti well, especially around 
the edge, put on a second and third layer until you have a 
well-trodden and compact bed of manure at least two and 
one half feet in depth. Place the frame in the center of this 
bed and press it down well." A two-inch layer of decayed 
leaves, cut straw, or corn fodder, spread over the manure 
in the frame and well packed down, will help to retain the 
heat. Ventilate the bed every day to allow steam and 
ammonia fumes to pass off. 

"The soil inside should be equal parts of garden loam 
and well-rotted barnyard manure. Tramp well the first 
layer of three inches. To make it entirely safe for the plant 
seeds in the hotbed, add another layer of the same depth. 
Use no water with garden loam and manure if you can pos- 
sibly help it." 

"Before sowing any seeds put a thermometer in the bed 
three inches deep in the soil. If it runs over 80 degrees 
Fahrenheit, do not sow. If below 55 degrees it is too cold ; 
you will have to fork it over and add more manure. If the 
bed gets too hot, you can ventilate it with a sharp stick by 
thrusting it down into the soil." 



104 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Another way that the old gardeners have to make a hot- 
bed is with fire. On a large scale this is cheaper, though 
more complicated than the fermentation of manure. In 
making this kind choose your location and build the frames 
as before. "Cut a trench with a slight taper from the east 
end of the plot to the end of the hotbed, and on under the 
ground to about four feet beyond the end of the bed. This 
taper to the outlet will create a draught and so keep a better 
fire. Arch this over with vitrified tile. The furnace end 
where the fire is should be about six feet away from the bed. 
When the trenches are completed, cover over with the dirt 
that was taken out of them. Two such trenches under the 
frames will make a good hotbed. Any one can do this sort 
of work." 

A hotbed can also be heated by running steam pipes 
through the ground, but unless you happen to be where 
exhaust steam could be used, this method is not economical 
except for big houses. The care and expense of a separate 
steam plant would be too great to pay, unless for growing 
winter vegetables for market or flower culture. If you go 
into that on a scale large enough to pay, new problems at 
once demand solution. 

Vegetables under glass have kept pace with other crops. 
Within fifteen miles of Boston are millions of square feet of 
glass devoted to vegetables, chiefly lettuce. There are 
more than five million feet in the United States used for 
other crops. Ordinarily, under favorable conditions, glass 
devoted to this work will yield an average of fifty cents 
per year per square foot. 

About the lowest estimate of cost per sash is five dollars ; 
this amount includes the cost of one fourth of the frame and 
covers. There are usually four sashes to one frame. A 



HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 105 

well-made mortised plank frame costs four to six dollars. 
A sash, unglazed, costs from one to two dollars. Glazing 
costs seventy-five cents. Mats and shutters cost from fifty 
cents to two dollars per sash, depending upon the material 
used. Double thick glass pays better in the end as being 
less liable to breakage. These prices vary greatly, however. 

The following sample estimate by a gardener is for a mar- 
ket garden of one acre, in which it is desired to grow a gen- 
eral line of vegetables. It supposes that half of the acre 
is to be set with plants from hotbeds. 

One eighth acre to early cauliflower and cabbage, about 
2000 plants, if transplanted, would require two 6 X 12 
frames, from two hundred to two hundred and fifty plants 
being grown under each sash. 

These frames may be used again for tomato plants for 
the same area, using about 450 plants. This will allow a 
sash for every 55 plants. 

One frame should be in use at the same time for eggplants 
and peppers, two sashes of each, growing fifty transplanted 
plants under each sash. 

Two frames will be required for cucumbers, melons, and 
early squashes ; for extra early lettuce, an estimate of sixty 
to seventy heads should be made to a sash. It is assumed 
that celery and late cabbages are to be started in seed beds 
in the open. 

In the fashionable suburbs of Boston " one hotbed 3X6 
feet was used in which to start the seeds of early vegetables. 
Plantings were made in the open ground as soon as the 
weather permitted, and were continued at intervals through- 
out the season whenever there was a vacant spot in the 
garden. The following varieties of vegetables, mostly five- 
and ten-cent packets, were planted : Pole and wax beans. 



106 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

beets, kale, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cu- 
cumbers, corn salad, endive, eggplant, kohlrabi, lettuce, 
muskmelon, onions, peppers, peas, salsify, radish, spinach, 
squash, tomatoes, turnips, rutabagas, escarole, chives, 
shallot, parsley, sweet and Irish potatoes, and nearly a dozen 
different kinds of sweet herbs." 

"In the larger garden, tomatoes followed peas, turnips 
the wax beans, early lettuce for fall use took the place of 
Refugee beans. Corn salad succeeded lettuce." 

"The spinach was followed by cabbage, while turnips, 
beets, carrots, celery, and spinach gave a second crop in the 
plot occupied by Gardus peas and Emperor William beans." 

" Winter radishes came after telephone peas, Paris Golden 
celery was planted in between the hills of Stowell's blanching. 
The plot of early corn was sown to turnips. The hotbed 
was used during the late fall and winter to store some of the 
hardy vegetables, and the latter part of October there was 
placed in it some endive, escarole, celeriac, and the remain- 
ing space was filled up by transplanting leeks, chives, and 
parsley." (Bailey, "Principles of Vegetable Gardening," 
page 38.) 

"If spinach is grown in frames, the sash used for one of 
the late crops above may be used through the following 
winter. 

"This, like the last case, makes a total of five frames, 
the cost, depending on make and material, from one to five 
dollars ; twenty sash and covers, at, say, $2.75, $55 ; manure 
at market price, calculating at least three or four loads per 
frame. This is a liberal estimate of space, and should allow 
for all ordinary loss of plants, and for discarding the weak 
and inferior ones. It supposes that most or all of the plants 
are to be transplanted once or more in the frames. Many 



HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 107 

gardeners have less equipment of glass." (Same, pages 
49-50.) 

Growing vegetables under glass gives smaller returns 
than flowers ; as, for instance, a head of lettuce brings much 
less than a plant of carnations, and suffers more from the 
competition of southern crops. Nevertheless, the green- 
house-grown vegetables have come into prominence lately 
because they can be raised in houses that are not good enough 
for flowers. Lettuce and tomatoes are the principal crops ; 
some growers raise thousands of dollars' worth each year. 
The greenhouse is also used for forcing plants which are 
afterwards transplanted to the open air. This develops 
them at a time when they could not grow outdoors and gives 
them such a start that they are very early on the market, 
thereby realizing the highest prices. 

"Nearness to market is the most important feature in 
a greenhouse. In large cities, manure, which is the chief 
fertilizer, can be had in most cases for the hauling. The 
short haul is an important item, and, most important of all, 
the gardener who is near the market can take advantage 
of high prices, if the grower is near enough to the city to make 
two or three trips; in such a fluctuating market as New 
York, it is to his advantage." 

Some kind of a greenhouse is necessary, but one large 
enough to produce a living would cost a very large sum. 
Vegetable raising under glass has been made profitable in 
special localities where nearly the whole community gives 
its time to building up the industry, but complete success 
can be attained only by having absolute control of all the 
conditions entering into production, and giving assiduous 
and undivided attention to detail. 

Leonard Barron, in the Garden Magazine j says: "The 



108 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

best type of greenhouse for all-round purposes is unques- 
tionably what is known as the even span — that is, a house 
in which the roof is in the form of an inverted V, so as to be 
exposed as much as possible to sunlight, and having the ridge- 
pole in the center. All other types of houses are modifica- 
tions from the simplest form, and are designed in some way 
or other to fit some special requirements. These require- 
ments may be : the cultural necessities for some particular 
crop; a desire to have the atmospheric conditions inside 
more or less abnormal at given seasons (as in a forcing house) ; 
or an adaptation to some peculiarity of the situation, as when 
a greenhouse is built as an adjunct to other buildings." 

"It is plain common sense that the ideal greenhouse is 
one in which the light is most nearly that which exists out- 
side, and in which the heat is as evenly distributed. It is 
practical experience that a structure with as few angles 
and turns in it as possible and with a minimum of woodwork 
in its superstructure, best answers these conditions. . . . 
Greenhouse building has developed into a special industry, 
and the modern American greenhouse is the highest type of 
construction. It is built with as careful calculation to its 
situation and its requirements as is the country dwelling- 
house. Such a thing naturally is not cheap." 

"The low-priced ^ cheap greenhouse' is a makeshift of 
some sort. Perhaps its roof is constructed of hotbed sash, 
a perfectly feasible method of construction, which for or- 
dinary, commonplace gardening will answer admirably. 
Or, its foundation is merely the plain earth. Such a build- 
ing does admirably in the summer time, and even in the late 
spring and early autumn ; but woe betide the enthusiastic 
amateur in winter, who, being possessed of one of these 
light greenhouse structures, has indulged in a few costly, 



HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES 109 

exotic plants. They will be frozen, to a certainty! It is 
economy to pay a fair price in the beginning to secure a prop- 
erly built greenhouse that will withstand the trials of winter." 

" If iron frame is used instead of wood, there is greater dura- 
bility, and the structure being more slender, will admit 
more light, but the cost will be increased.'' 

" It makes very little difference in cost what shape of house 
is to be erected. The cost per lineal foot for an even span 
is practically the same as for a lean-to of the same length 
and width. In the lean-to, in order to get the sufficient 
bench and walk space inside, it is necessary to carry the roof 
to a point much higher than in the even span. The extra 
framework and material for the roof cost a good deal, yet 
add practically nothing to the efficiency of the house." 

"Heating of greenhouses is best done by hot water, and 
in a small house the pipes may well be connected with the 
heating system used for the dwelling, if the greenhouse and 
the home are within any sort of reasonable distance from each 
other. For large houses, or ranges of several houses together, 
the independent heating plant is necessary. Steam is used 
for heating by commercial florists, but it is economical only 
on a large scale." 

"As a uniform temperature must be maintained in the 
house, the fires, where steam is used, need watching contin- 
uously during cold weather, for the moment the water 
ceases to boil, the pipes cool off, and a considerable time is 
consumed in starting the heat running again. With hot 
water there is much more latitude in attention, for though 
the fires dwindle, the water which fills the pipes will carry 
heat for a long time, and it will circulate until the last degree 
is radiated. But a hot-water system costs in the installa- 
tion about one fourth more than steam. Very small houses 



no THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

may be successfully heated by kerosene stoves, which may 
be placed inside the house. A much better way would be to 
use oil heaters for an inside water circulation, carrying off 
all products of combustion by means of a flue. Coal stoves 
should never be installed inside the house. It has been 
done successfully by some amateurs, but the danger of coal 
gas being driven back into the house by a down draft in the 
chimney is too great a risk. Coal gas and illuminating gas 
are two virulent poisons to plants.'' 

It is obvious that the amateur must proceed with great 
caution in undertaking intensive cultivation under glass. 
Build at first the simplest and least expensive kind of hot- 
beds or greenhouses. It takes three to five seasons to 
train even an experienced farmer along these special lines. 
Separate crops require special treatment. Do not experi- 
ment, but follow well-tried procedure. It is comparatively 
easy to farm an acre under glass, but it should be worked 
up to, each step being taken only after a solid foundation 
is ready to build on. Learn by your mistakes. Don't get 
discouraged by failure. By not making the same mistake 
twice, you will soon learn by experience just what is essential 
to production. The more you learn about the way nature 
does things, the more likely you will be to succeed when you 
seek to imitate her. 



CHAPTER XII 

OTHER USES OF LAND 

We had intended to write an interesting chapter on the 
use of a few acres of land for poultry, and another on rais- 
ing a vast drove of rabbits, both from practical men, but a 
good average man, just such as this book is written for, sent 
the following : 

" I am very sorry that I cannot comply with your request 
to write a chapter on poultry for your new book. It is true 
that I am physically and mentally capable of performing 
that feat, and it would be possible for me to prepare an essay 
that might entertain the reader, and even make him believe 
that there is money in commercial poultry. I prefer, how- 
ever, to leave that sort of romancing to the poultry journals 
who, by much practice, are adepts in the art. The fact is, 
I did not make poultry raising pay, and had I remained 
on my chicken ranch, I would have gone broke. I do not 
mean to say, however, that there is no money in poultry, 
but merely that I could not get it out. Perhaps others who 
are better equipped for the work can make a success of such 
an undertaking, but I could not. The numerous poultry 
journals are filled with instructions how to do it and with 
letters from people who assert that they have done well 
with poultry; but, really, during the four years that I was 
in the business I cannot recall a single case of success, and, 
on the other hand, I learned of failures without end. I had 

111 



112 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the reputation of having the best planned and most com- 
pletely equipped plant in this part of Washington, and per- 
haps in the entire state. My stock was thoroughbred and 
healthy, and they seemed to attend to business strictly. I 
devoted about all my waking hours to them, did everything 
that seemed necessary that was suggested by my own suc- 
cess, and yet I could not make it go, am glad I am clear of 
it, and have no desire to try it again. I am perfectly willing 
to admit my possible unfitness for the business, but I am also 
compelled to admit that I could not succeed and that no 
advice of mine could help others." 

Although many, either under exceptional circumstances 
or because of exceptional ability, have made a success of 
wholesale poultry raising, it seems on reflection that Mr. 
Wolf's ideas are in the main correct. 

The price of chickens is fixed, like all other prices, by 
supply and demand, and toward the supply every farmer 
contributes his chickens and their eggs which cost him 
practically nothing; at least he counts that they cost him 
nothing. 

Now it is clear that if you considerably increase the sup- 
ply at any place, the price will fall, and the farmer, whose 
chickens and eggs cost him almost nothing in money, will 
sell them low enough to command a market and will continue 
to raise them, however little he gets for them. 

So you are against inexhaustible competitors who can 
neither be driven out nor combined with. It is worse than 
competing with bankrupt dealers. To make much money 
you must have at least some monopoly, and even a little 
bit of the earth that is well suited to your purpose where 
there is no unreasonable and unreasoning competition, will 
give you a chance. 



OTHER USES OF LAND 113 

But while it is true that the farmer's subsidized hens 
have a very disastrous effect at times upon the market, the 
fact is that, notwithstanding the tariff, we import miUions 
of dozens of eggs laid each year by the pauper hens of Canada 
and often of Denmark. 

Another fact to be considered is, that it is when eggs are 
most plentiful that the farmers depress the market. With 
their ways of handling their poultry, their hens lay only 
when conditions are most favorable, and in the winter when 
eggs are as high as fifty cents a dozen in cities, they have 
no eggs to market. Like the market gardener, to be timely 
in market is to succeed. A week may mean an annihilation 
of profits. 

It is a different proposition to raise a few chickens as a 
side line as the farmers do. 

A workman at the Connecticut place of one of the experts 
who has revised this book had a bit of land not more than 
100 X 200 feet, and for several years cleared $100 a year by 
raising eggs and broilers, doing the work together with that 
of a little garden of small fruits before and after working 
hours. The chickens fed largely on green food in summer. 

In selling your surplus at a profit, the same principles 
apply as in raising a surplus to sell at a profit. 

While poultry and egg raising does not require that you 
must be first, it does require that you market your produce 
at a time when the prices are highest. 

You must hatch at a time which will allow the young 
hens to begin laying as winter approaches; the food must 
keep up animal heat and the house must be warm enough 
to make the hens comfortable, and the conditions must be 
such as to keep them laying. 

As an experiment, we once raised six pullets. They were 
I 



114 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

hatched in May, and in December they began laying. All 
during the winter they laid never less than four and some- 
times six eggs a day, and kept this up until spring. 

They were fed on wheat and corn and plenty of meat 
scraps and green food. They were kept in what was prac- 
tically a glass house, receiving the benefit of the sun during 
the day, and were protected from the winds. The effect 
was to bring as near as possible the condition of the warm 
months; these paid very well. 

Ducks are less frequently raised than chickens and often 
realize good returns. 

The popular fallacy that ducks require a stream or pond 
is gradually passing away. There was a time when nearly 
all ducks were raised in this way, feeding on fish as the prin- 
cipal diet, but experience has proved that ducks raised with- 
out a stream or pond tend to put on flesh instead of feathers, 
and they have not the oily, fishy flavor of those raised on 
the water. Nearly all of the successful duck raisers now 
use this method. 

This is bringing the duck more into prominence as an 
article of food; as James Rankin says in "Duck Culture," 
"People do not care to eat fish and flesh combined. They 
would rather eat them separate." 

The white pekins are the popular birds, because they are 
larger, have white meat, and are splendid layers. They 
lay from 100 to 165 eggs in a season and are the easiest to 
raise. They can do entirely without water; and Rankin 
tells of seUing a flock to a wealthy man, who afterwards 
wrote asking him to take them back, because he had bought 
them for an artificial lake in front of his house, so that his 
wife and children could watch them disporting in the water. 
He complained that they would not go into the water unless 



I 



OTHER USES OF LAND 115 

he drove them in and would remain only so long as he stood 
over them. 

Ducks are easier to raise than any other fowl and are 
freer from disease. They are ready for market when eight 
weeks old. 

The industry is assuming large proportions, and ranches 
are now raising ducks by the tens of thousands and are 
finding better markets each year. 

In starting any poultry business, it is better to begin 
with twenty-five fowls and master details with those, then 
double the number as fast as they have been made to return 
profits. 

The Atlantic Squab Company, of Hammonton, N. J., 
says "it is a simple matter for the beginner to figure out on 
paper net profits of four or five dollars per year from each 
pair of breeders, but w^e doubt if it can be made. It is, 
however, 'pigeon nature' to lay ten or eleven times a year, 
but hardly natural to presume that each and every egg will 
ultimately mean a Jumbo squab in the commission man's 
hands. 

"A loft [that is, a pair] of high-class Homers, properly 
mated, should average six pair of squabs per year. For 
one year our squabs averaged us a fraction over 60c. per 
pair ; say $3.60 has been the returns from each pair of breed- 
ers. It has cost us 90c. per pair to feed for twelve months ; 
remember, we buy in large quantities; it would cost the 
small breeder $1 a year per pair to feed. It would be well 
to allow 60c. a pair for labor and supplies, such as grit, 
charcoal, tobacco stems, etc., although the bird manure, 
which we find ready sale for at 55c. per bushel, has covered 
these incidental expenses for us. The inexperienced begin- 
ner, with good management and close attention to details. 



116 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

should clear $2 a year from each pair of birds, provided he 
starts with well-mated pure Homer stock." Pigeons are 
particular about their mates, and will rather go single than 
take a disagreeable partner. 

Raising Belgian hares at one time promised to be a most 
profitable industry. The Belgian hare is a distant relation 
of the ordinary rabbit. Its flesh is white, close-grained, 
and tender, resembling the legs of the frog, and has a very 
savory flavor. It is considered by many superior to poultry, 
and the rapidity with which they breed gave promise of 
fortunes. The doe brings forth a litter of about eleven 
every sixty days, and with prices ranging from $1.50 to $2.50, 
as they were about the year 1900, with the cost of raising 
from thirty to forty cents, the reason for this promise is 
evident. In Southern California thousands turned their 
attention to it, and some firms entered the business with 
equipment to the value of fifty thousand dollars. 

Besides the ordinary market prices realized for the hares, 
some went extensively into breeding fancy stock, and real- 
ized from $50 to $250 apiece for them. 

This industry had indications of becoming extensive 
and enduring, but by 1900 so many went into the business 
that the markets became glutted and prices fell with dis- 
astrous effect. 

Whether it will pay you depends largely on the attitude 
of your customers toward the hare as a food product. 

Bee-keeping offers an interesting and remunerative field 
of employment. More than the average living awaits those 
only who will make a careful and intelligent study of bees 
and their habits and will give them the proper care and 
attention. 

One need not be a practical bee-keeper to enter this field. 



OTHER USES OF LAND 117 

He can purchase even one hive and, while increasing from 
this, he can gain an experience that he could get in no other 
way. 

How shall one start bee-keeping? 

Get one hive or a few hives. If you have no room in the 
yard, put them upon the roof. One man in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, makes his living from bees kept on the roof of his 
house. 

Wm. A. Selzer, a large dealer in bee-keepers' supplies, in 
Philadelphia, established many colonies on the roof of his 
place right in the heart of the business district, where it would 
seem impossible for bees to find a living. 

Very little space is required for bee-keeping; hives can 
be set two feet apart in rows, and the rows six to ten feet 
apart. No pasture need be provided for them. There 
are always fields of flowers to supply the nectar. 

White clover produces a large yield of nectar of very fine 
flavor. The basswood or linden tree blossom produces a 
fine nectar which some consider better than white clover. 
Buckwheat also gives a good yield of nectar, but it is dark 
in color and brings a lower price for that reason. There are 
other plants which yield large quantities of nectar, and it 
would be necessary to know the locality to say what would 
be the best plants; but as white clover is found almost 
everywhere in the northern states, it is safe to say this will 
be the best producer in the spring, and goldenrod, where 
found, the best for the fall supply. 

Frank Benton, in United States Department of Agri- 
culture Bulletin 59, says : " It may be safely said that any 
place where farming, gardening, or fruit raising can be suc- 
cessfully followed is adapted to the profitable keeping of 
bees." 



118 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

There is always a farmer here and there who keeps a few 
hives of bees. These often can be purchased at a very 
reasonable price, but unless they are Italian bees and are 
in improved hives, it would be better to purchase from some 
dealer. He may sell you a very weak colony, but after the 
first year these ought to be as strong as any. Start in the 
spring; when you have your bees, read good literature on 
the subject. A. I. Root's "A B C of Bee Culture" is good 
for beginners; subscribe for the American Bee Journal, of 
Chicago, or Gleanings in Bee Culture, Medina, Ohio. They 
are full of the latest ideas on the subject. 

A yield of fifty pounds of honey in a season can be ob- 
tained from one hive of bees in almost any locality. In 
fact, this is often done where bees are kept in built up cities. 
One hundred pounds would be considered a very small 
yield by many apiarists, and twice this amount is often 
gathered in favored localities where up-to-date methods are 
followed. 

One man can take care of two hundred hives or colonies, 
as they are termed, if he is working for comb honey, and 
perhaps twice that number if for extracted honey. 

Comb honey is stored usually in one-pound boxes set in 
a super or small box over the main hive body, which is itself 
a box about seventeen inches long, eleven inches wide, and 
ten inches deep into which frames of comb are slid side by 
side. These combs are accessible and can be lifted out, 
exposing to view the inner workings of the hive. It is in 
these combs that the queen lays as many as three thousand 
eggs some days, and in which the young bees are hatched. 
They are also used for storing honey for winter use. 

The extractor has been invented to remove this honey 
without damaging the comb. The economy of this can 



OTHER USES OF LAND 119 

readily be seen, as ten pounds of honey can be stored while 
one pound of comb is being built. 

This leaves the bees free to gather honey instead of using 
a portion of their force to build comb, as is necessary when 
comb honey is desired. 

The extractor is a round tin can on a central pivot with a 
revolving mechanism. Into this the full combs of honey 
are placed and are whirled around, throwing the honey out 
into the can by centrifugal force. It is then run out at the 
bottom into bottles or barrels, and the empty combs are 
replaced in the hive for the bees to fill again. 

Twice as many pounds of honey can be produced by this 
method ; but the price of extracted honey is much less than 
that of comb honey. Adulteration of extracted honey with 
glucose is becoming so prevalent that it threatens to ruin 
this branch of the industry. But there will always be a 
good market for honey sold direct by the producer to resi- 
dents, or even through storekeepers, in medium size towns, 
where customers can be sure that the honey is pure. 

The average w;holesale prices of honey are about fifteen 
cents a pound for extracted and twenty cents for fancy comb, 
so if the apiarist with two hundred hives produces the small 
average of fifty pounds of comb honey and sells it at fifteen 
cents a pound, he will receive $1500 for his season's work. 
If he goes in for extracted honey and produces one hundred 
pounds per hive, he will receive even more. Of course, 
expenses will have to come out of this. 

That this has been done over and over again is proved 
by men who started in with only a few hives and have ac- 
cumulated considerable property from the business. 

But no one need expect to do this unless he is willing to 
give the bees the attention which they will require. To 



120 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

neglect them once means often a total loss. Most of the 
work will have to be done during the swarming season in 
May, June, and July. There has been so much written on 
the subject and so many inventions and improvements made 
in the hives that bee-keeping more than any other branch 
of similar employment has been reduced to a science, and 
any one can thoroughly master it in two or three years. It 
is because its possibilities are not generally recognized that 
so few are now engaged in it. 

The fear of stings will always deter many from entering 
this business and so check competition from forcing prices 
down. 

The price of honey makes it a luxury, and there will be 
an unlimited opportunity in the crop as long as the price 
does not get near the cost of producing, which is far below 
the present prices. 

To use land directly is to open almost infinite opportuni- 
ties. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 204, 
says: "In the United States the term 'mushroom' refers 
commercially to but a single species {Agaricus Campestris) 
of the fleshly fungi, a plant common throughout most of the 
temperate regions of the world, and one everywhere recog- 
nized as edible." 

It is unfortunate that the commercial use of the term 
"mushroom" restricts it to a single species. There are 
about twenty-five common varieties of edible fungi in the 
Northern states. 

The successful cultivation of mushrooms in America has 
not been so general as in most European countries. It is 
in France and in England that the mushroom industry has 
been best developed. France is the home of the industry. 
Unusual interest has been shown in the United States in 



OTHER USES OF LAND 121 

the growth of mushrooms within the past few years, and 
it is to be hoped and expected that within the next ten years 
the industry will develop to the fullest limit of the market 
demands. The demand will, of course, be stimulated by the 
increasing popular appreciation of this product. In some 
cities and towns there is already a good market for mush- 
rooms, while in others they may be sold directly to special 
customers. This should be borne in mind by prospective 
growers. 

While many American growers have been successful, a 
much larger number have failed. In most cases their fail- 
ures have been due to one or more of the following causes : 

(1) Poor spawn, or spawn which has been killed by im- 
proper storage. 

(2) Spawning at a temperature injuriously high. 

(3) Too much water either at the time of spawning or 
later. 

(4) Unfavorable temperature during the growing period. 
It is therefore important to the prospective grower that 
careful attention be given to the general discussion of con- 
ditions which follow. 

Mushrooms may be grown in any place where the con- 
ditions of temperature and moisture are favorable. A shed, 
cellar, cave, or vacant space in a greenhouse may be utilized 
to advantage for this purpose. The most essential factor, 
perhaps, is that of temperature. The proper temperature 
ranges from 53° to 60° F., with the best from 55° to 58° F. 
It is unsafe to attempt to grow mushrooms on a commercial 
basis, according to our present knowledge of the subject, 
in a temperature much less than 50° or greater than 63° F. 
Any severe changes of temperature would entirely destroy 
the profits of the mushroom crop. From this it is evident 



122 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

that in many places mushrooms may not be grown as a sum- 
mer crop. With artificial heat they may be grown almost 
anywhere throughout the winter. Moreover, it is very 
probable that in this country open-air culture must be lim- 
ited to a few sections. 

A second important factor is moisture. The place should 
i. *■ be very damp, or constantly dripping with water. Under 
such conditions successful commercial work is not possible. 
A place where it is possible to maintain a fairly moist condi- 
tion of the atmosphere, and having such capability for ven- 
tilation as will cause at least a gradual evaporation, is neces- 
sary. With too rapid ventilation and the consequent neces- 
sity of repeated applications of water to the mushroom bed, 
no mushroom crop will attain the highest perfection. 

Even a little iron rust in the soil is reported as fatal to 
the Campestris, the only fungus so far successfully propa- 
gated. 

If other fungi than the Campestris come up wild, don't 
throw them away as worthless. Many are better eating 
than the one you seek, and you can avoid the risk of poison- 
ous ones by learning to recognize the dangerous family — 
send for the Agricultural Department's Bulletin No. 204. 
Meanwhile, (1) all mushrooms with pink gills, (2) all coral- 
like fungi, (3) all that grow on wood, and (4) all puffballs, 
are good to eat if they are young and tender — only don't 
mistake an unspread Aminita for a puffball. 

An ingenious person may find other sources of income in 
the country. A young hotel porter in Ulster County, New 
York, bought seventy acres of mountain woodland four 
miles from the railroad for two hundred and fifty dollars, 
and puts in his winters cutting barrel hoops, at which he 
makes two dollars a day. Meanwhile the land is maturing 



OTHER USES OF LAND 123 

timber. That is hard work, but to gather wild mushrooms 
or to cut willows, or sweet pine needles to make cushions, 
or to catch young squirrels for sale, is lighter, if less steady 
employment. 

And with all our uses of land, we must not forget a little 
corner for the hammock and the croquet hoops for the wife 
and the children. In the Province of Quebec, where the land 
is held in great tracts under the Seigniors, I have seen croquet 
grounds no bigger than a bed quilt in front of the little one- 
room cottages. 

The Frenchman knows the importance of such things as 
that, has meals out of doors in fine weather, goes on little 
picnics, and keeps madame contented in the country. 

A swing, or a seesaw, and a tether ball (a ball swinging 
from the top of a pole eight feet high) for the children will 
help to keep the family peace. 



CHAPTER XIII 

FRUITS 

Fruit raising can succeed in either of two ways. Either 
planting the orchard in some one fruit and specializing 
thereon, or diversifying the operation to cover many va- 
rieties. In the first way it is usual to establish orchards in 
favorable localities without special regard to nearness to 
market ; because in these days of refrigerator car lines the 
product of an orchard in any part of the country can be 
sent to market quickly enough to avoid loss. Where many 
varieties are grown, the best site is usually near a large city 
where the grower can market his own product on wagons 
and get the benefit of retail prices. 

Remember that it is far more profitable to raise twenty 
baskets of fine, well-shaped, clean, handsome apples or 
peaches or any other hand-eaten fruit, than to raise a hun- 
dred barrels of stuff that is good only for the common 
drier or for the mill or hogpen. 

Care and common sense are the jackscrews to use in 
raising fine fruit. 

The apple is the great American fruit for extensive orchard- 
ing. The question is whether there is a profit in apple 
growing. The answer is, where the conditions are favor- 
able and when the business is well conducted there is. 
Under average conditions, with poor business manage- 
ment, there is little or none. 

124 



FRUITS 125 

As Professor S. T. Maynard in Suburban Life tells us, 
"In a suburban garden of one of our Eastern cities are 
seven Astrachan trees, about twenty years old, from which 
have been sold in a single season over one hundred dollars' 
worth of fruit. A friend near Boston put three thousand 
barrels of picked Baldwins into cold storage. None of the 
fancy apples sold for less than three dollars a barrel, and the 
others netted more than two dollars. They were the prod- 
uct of less than forty acres of trees which had been planted 
about twenty-five years. Another fruit grower showed me 
several returns of commission men of five, six, and even 
seven dollars a barrel for fancy Baldwins. At such prices, 
and under such conditions, there is a large profit in apple 
growing." 

"The other side of the picture, however, is the more 
common one. A friend sent fifty barrels of fancy Bald- 
wins to a commission house, to be shipped to European 
markets, the returns for which were just enough to pay for 
the barrels. The majority of apples grown in the United 
States are sold to buyers, one buyer in each section, for a 
dollar to two dollars for No. 1 quality, and a dollar for No. 2. 
With the cost of barrels at about forty cents, labor for pick- 
ing, sorting, and packing, these prices leave little or nothing 
for the use of the land, cost of fertilizers, spraying, thinning, 
etc., all of which are necessary for growing fruit of the best 
quality." 

Holmes further says, in substance, that we must make 
the trees grow vigorously, whether upon poor or good soil. 
Growth is the first requirement. To do this, we need a 
strong, deep, moist soil, — good grass land well under- 
drained makes the best. If this is on an elevation with a 
northern or western exposure, it will be better than a south- 



126 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

ern or an eastern one. While apple trees will grow on a 
thin soil, so much care and fertilizing is required that the 
crop will be of little or no profit upon such land. Lastly, 
we must protect our fruit from insect and fungous pests. 

On land that is free from stones and not too steep, thor- 
ough and frequent cultivation will give the quickest and 
largest returns. On such land hoed garden or farm crops 
may be profitable while the trees are small, but after five or 
six years it will generally be found best to cultivate it en- 
tirely for the growth of trees. Organic matter in the form 
of stable manure or cover crops will be needed, and must 
be applied in the fall or very early in the spring to keep up 
the supply of humus in the soil. 

Stony land that cannot be plowed or cultivated except 
at a great cost may be made to grow good crops of fruit. 
While the trees are young, the soil should be worked about 
them for the space of a few feet and then the moisture re- 
tained by a mulch system, making use of any waste organic 
matter like straw, leaves, meadow hay, brush, and weeds 
cut before they seed. Most of the first prize apples at the 
Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo were grown under the 
" turf-culture ' ^ system . 

Unless you have trees already on your land, it is too long 
to wait six or seven years for a crop. We can graft good 
fruit on almost any tree, though the new dwarf trees will 
bear much sooner, and if we have trees we need not even 
wait for the harvest of our crop, since the windfalls will 
keep us in apple sauce, jellies, and pies, for no apple is too 
green for apple sauce, not even the ones that the boys can't 
bite. 

The greatest difficulty in the profitable growth of the 
apple is the market. Much of the profit in apple growing, 



FRUITS 127 

whether in the East or the West, will depend upon the 
extent of the business done, especially if one is a consider- 
able distance from markets. The above are the essentials 
noted by this practical scientist. 

Next to the apple crop, perhaps the most important fruit 
crop for shipping is the peach. The locality is perhaps the 
most important consideration in a peach orchard. In the 
Eastern and Southern states, and in Connecticut, Delaware, 
New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and, of late years, 
Georgia, peaches flourish and produce enormous crops. 
As a general rule, the nearer the orchard is to large bodies 
of water, the more likely one is to get a crop, as the temper- 
ature of the water prevents a too early budding out in the 
spring and delays killing autumn frosts. 

Generally speaking, a sandy, porous soil is best for peaches, 
but they may be raised on clay lands if provided with plenty 
of humus. 

Another fruit which is profitable in districts suited to 
its growth is the grape. Bulletin No. 153, Cornell Exper- 
iment Station, says : " Grapes are a dessert fruit. They 
are not used to a large extent in the kitchen (though they 
might be), so there are few incidental or secondary prod- 
ucts ; that is, they are not dried, canned, made into jellies, 
and the like, to any extent, that is, in the United States." 
The grape is peculiarly a sectional product. Central New 
York has a large area devoted to it. In northern Ohio, a 
strip along Lake Erie, and some of its islands, are devoted 
almost exclusively to grape vineyards. In districts where 
grapes are intensively grown, a great part of the crop is 
used for wine, and American wine is extensively sold in our 
home markets, although it frequently has foreign labels. 

Any one purchasing a farm should plant some grapevines 



128 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

for home use. Grape juice is easily made and kept and is 
a pleasing beverage. Grape jelly is excellent and could be 
readily marketed in any nearby town, since there is very 
little, comparatively, on sale. A grape arbor gives shade, 
needs little care, and can be planted near the house where 
it will not interfere with the crops. For you cannot cul- 
tivate all of your land ; some grassy space must be left 
around the house if only for drying clothes. But if ground 
is scarce, vines or lima beans can be trained up the back 
porch or up the sunny side of the house ; or a few climbing 
nasturtiums will give decorations without care, while the 
young leaves make a good salad. 

Of home orchard fruits, the plum, pear, and quince are 
all profitable specialties, especially for intensive acre rais- 
ing. In general, the same remark may be made of them as 
of the other fruits, that they need careful selection of land 
to get the best results. The cherry has recently come to 
be recognized as a good commercial specialty. Mr. George 
T. Powell, in The American Agriculturist, says : " The crop 
is a precarious one to market. . . . The risk and loss may 
be largely reduced by making a proper selection of site for 
the orchard. This should be on high ground where the air 
generally circulates freely. This is especially necessary for 
sweet varieties. The soil should be rich, with naturally 
good drainage." 

He says : " I have had Rockport trees produce four hun- 
dred pounds each and the fruit net ten cents a pound for 
the entire crop. The English Morello trees may be grown 
fifteen feet apart each way, which will allow two hundred 
trees to the acre. The larger trees ought to be planted 
somewhat thinner. . . . Cherries are packed largely in 
eight-pound baskets and in strawberry quarts. Each bas- 



FRUITS 129 

ket is filled with carefully assorted fruit, every imperfect 
specimen being taken out, after which they are faced by 
placing the stems downward so that the cherry shows in 
regular rows upon the face. Girls and women do this work. 
The Eastern fruit grower must bear in mind that he has to 
meet in his market the competition of the Pacific coast 
growers, who excel in fine packing; and although our 
Eastern grown cherries are of a finer flavor, they are sent 
to the market in such a crude manner and in such unat- 
tractive condition that they sell for much less than the Cali- 
fornia fruit." 

Regarding bush berries, he says, you will get a small crop 
the second year after planting and for the third and subse- 
quent years a full crop. The important thing is to keep the 
dead canes well pruned out, as the cane borer is one of the 
worst insect pests. When they appear they can be stopped 
by cutting off the shoot several inches below the puncture 
as soon as it begins to droop, and burning the part cut off. 
Again, Mr. Powell says, " Currants require rich soil. A clay 
or heavy loam is better than a heavy dry soil. They should 
be planted in the fall. The average from ten thousand 
bushes should be about four quarts each. The cherry currant 
is perhaps the largest in size, but not so prolific as some 
others. Currants are shipped and sold in thirty-two quart 
crates and have to be carefully packed to get to market in 
good condition." 

Gooseberries are raised by the acre. Mr. A. M. Brown, 
Kent County, Delaware, in The American Agriculturist, 
tells of a plantation in Central Delaware where over twenty- 
four thousand pounds were gathered from a scant four acres. 
The product was sold to the Baltimore canners for six cents 
a pound, making $1440 in all. In addition to the goose- 



130 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

berries grown on six acres, a large crop each of apples and 
pears were grown on the same ground. Like currants, the 
gooseberry must be sprayed to destroy the worms, and cut 
back and burnt to destroy the cane borer. 

There is little special knowledge required, however, in 
raising this fruit, and it is well adapted for growers with 
small acreage and little money. 

In going into the cultivation of bush fruits, it is usually 
best to grow them in great variety near the market where 
they are to be sold. The bush fruits are then uniformly 
profitable. In Suburban Life Mr. E. C. Powell tells us that 
the spring is the best time for planting raspberries and 
blackberries, just as soon as the ground is dry enough to 
work. The first season the plots should be well tilled. It 
is possible to grow vegetables between the rows the first 
year before the berries begin to bear, but unless pressed for 
space, it probably doesn't pay. 

Perhaps the best of small fruits, however, and most 
largely used is the strawberry. The strawberry can be 
planted by the acre. The ground must be rich loam and 
plenty of humus, well drained, with a southern exposure. 
Well-grown plants set out in the open will bear a small 
crop the first season, but will not become of maximum bear- 
ing till the second year. After the crop is taken off in the 
fall a mulch of straw or leaves should be placed over the 
plants to protect them during the winter. The strawberries 
are picked by boys and girls. 

The strawberry is an exceedingly profitable crop if prop- 
erly handled, and is one of the best small fruits for people 
with little capital. While the price in the general market 
varies from fifteen to thirty cents per quart, they sometimes 
run as high as fifty in the early spring ; yet it is possible to 



FRUITS 131 

grow strawberries worth six dollars a quart by intensive 
culture in greenhouses. Mr. S. W. Fletcher, in Country 
Life in America, says : " The forcing of strawberries is a 
specialized industry of the highest type. Everybody can- 
not make it pay everywhere. . . . Strawberries are forced 
in pots or in benches. The pot method is preferred by those 
who find a demand for the highest quality of fruit regard- 
less of expense. ... If fruit is desired for Christmas, 
the plants are not checked to any extent, but are kept in 
continuous growth. The conditions of springtime are 
simulated as far as possible. At Christmas time a quart 
box of forced Marshall strawberries sells at from one-fifty 
to eight dollars per quart, averaging about four dollars.'* 

Our most valuable allies against the insect armies are 
toads, bats, wasps, dragon flies, and birds; they enjoy the 
battle. 

There cannot be too many toads or bats. Toads will 
eat all sorts of flies, potato bugs, squash bugs, rose bugs, 
caterpillars, and almost anything that crawls. 

If the wasps become a nuisance, it is easy to poison them ; 
but the birds are often a nuisance — the robins eat the 
strawberries and cherries the instant they are ripe. They 
soon get used to scarecrows; and to cover the fruit with 
nets gives the insects a free hand. Some growers raise 
sweet cherries or other fruits specially to feed up the birds 
so that they will let the rest alone. Early rising and a 
plenty of cats is about the best remedy. A man, or even a 
woman, working on the land is the best scarecrow. 

There are a few other fruits that grow wild in certain 
sections and are gathered and sent to market. Among 
these the cranberry is the most important. It grows in 
nearly inaccessible bogs, principally in New Jersey, and the 



132 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

usual custom is for owners of land on which there are cran- 
berry bogs to let out the bog to pickers on a percentage 
basis. Cranberries can be cultivated, and there is a con- 
siderable profit in the business. The swampy nature of 
the ground needed, however, will deter all except the most 
persistent from this industry. Some cranberry bogs bring 
as high as a thousand dollars an acre. 

The blueberry or huckleberry, or, as we call it in Ire- 
land, the bilberry, or frohen, grows wild in the northerly 
states, and is much sought after in the market. Many 
efforts have been made to grow the blueberry commercially ; 
but, as is well said by Mr. J. H. Hale in the Rural New Yorker, 
" The blueberry proved to be a good deal like Indians — it 
would not stand civilization, and was never satisfactory, 
although I monkeyed with it for a period of about ten 
years." Mr. Fred W. Card, of Rhode Island, in the same 
issue reports a similar experience. With our present knowl- 
edge of the blueberry, it is doubtful if it can be made a 
commercially cultivated crop. Lately, however, it is claimed 
that it can be grown in very poor, non-nitrogenous soil. 

A variety, however, called the Garden Blueberry, gives 
almost incredible yields, five bushels being reported from 
sixty plants. It keeps all winter on the branches, if stored 
in a cellar, and is of fine flavor and especially good for pre- 
serves. A little frost improves it. 

But wild berries, crab apples, and elderberries and others, 
are good to preserve and find a ready sale if attractively 
put up ; they also help out the table greatly. Then think 
of the fun ! 

In recent years, certain varieties of nuts, like the English 
walnut, the pecan, and the hickory nuts have been grown 
commercially. In the South particularly, the pecan has 



FRUITS 133 

been found a good crop to plant on cotton plantations which 
have been overworked. In the Rural Neiv Yorker, Mr. 
H. E. Vandevan gives an account of an old cotton planta- 
tion of 2250 acres lying on the west bank of the Mississippi 
River in Louisiana. The pecan tree was indigenous to the 
land, and the wooded portion of the plantation has thou- 
sands of giant pecan trees growing on it. The previous 
owners of this plantation had done all in their powder to 
destroy these trees, but they flourished in spite of that. 
Mr. Vandevan, however, saw in the pecan a large profit, and 
he has planted ten thousand trees on six hundred acres, 
all in a solid block. The trees are set fifty feet apart both 
ways, except w^here a roadway is left. Between the pecan 
trees Mr. Vandevan has planted fig trees for early returns, 
with the intention of canning the fruit. 

The English walnut is grown principally in California. 
Its value has been recognized only recently, as all of the 
nut crops take a good many years before the trees begin to 
bear. Nut growling on a small scale is not of much value 
to a man with a little bit of land, except as an additional 
source of income. 

If you find a sweet chestnut tree or a shell-bark hickory 
or two in your wood lot, they will well repay protection and 
careful cultivation. 

If you don't, w^hy — there are great promises in quick 
maturing nut trees. There is now an English walnut which 
is claimed to bear the third or even the second year after 
setting out. My own small experience with these in New 
Jersey, however, has not been a success. 



CHAPTER XIV 

FLOWERS 

Every city in the United States affords an opportunity 
for flower gardening and nurseries, but a study must be 
made of the market in order to know what is best to raise 
and where to raise it. 

The choice of crops depends on the popular taste. The 
flowers which are now in greatest demand are the rose, 
carnation, violet, and chrysanthemum. 

Near every large city there are hundreds of florists with 
glass houses, some covering twenty acres or more. There 
were over 2000 acres of flower land under glass reported at 
the last census. As almost all industries to-day are spe- 
cialized, so is floriculture ; in one place we see ten acres of 
glass given over to the rose, in another thousands of dollars 
devoted to the carnation or the violet, while one grower in 
Queens, Long Island, has 75,000 square feet of glass for 
carnations. 

The specialist who devotes his thoughts and energies to 
raising one flower can produce better results than if he 
raised a variety. He has only one crop to market, and can 
do it more successfully than with a number of crops. If he 
raises enough to make himself a factor in the market, he 
can sell direct instead of sending his product to a commis- 
sion man, thereby receiving better prices. 

134 



FLOWERS 135 

Little capital is required to start; intelligent effort is 
the road to success. Very few, indeed, who are now leaders 
in floriculture, started with more than $500 capital, and 
many with much less. One of the largest growers of roses 
in the United States, whose plant covers more than ten 
acres, did not have $500 when he started, and many others 
not so well known are making handsome livings and have 
accumulated thousands of dollars of property from a start 
of less than $500. 

But practical knowledge is much more necessary than in 
raising vegetables, as small mistakes will have more serious 
results. Therefore, if you have some capital and wish to 
go into flower raising, it will pay you, if circumstances per- 
mit, to hire out to a florist, even at small wages, till you 
have learned the business — even though you have raised 
flowers successfully in a home garden. 

Mr. Frank Hamilton, manager of C. W. Ward's of 
Queens, tells of at least a dozen men, who have been in their 
employ during his twenty-five years' experience, some of 
whom got only twenty dollars a month at first, and after- 
wards started in a small way for themselves, who are now 
making a substantial living. 

Although the market depends largely on the wealthy 
class in the large cities, many florists devote considerable 
time and space to flowers which are bought by the poorer 
class of city dwellers who have no space or time to raise 
their own. 

There are always good markets somewhere for the crop, 
and it is not an uncommon thing to ship flowers from New 
York to Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
and Washington, or vice versa. The chances of success 
for a lover of flowers are better in this business than in any 



136 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

in which one with a like amount of capital can engage. If 
the business at first is not large enough to use all his time, 
he will find no trouble in securing employment in his imme- 
diate vicinity. There are always some who want such a 
person to care for their lawns or to give some time to their 
conservatories. 

In the last ten years the business has doubled, and while 
many have gone into it, the profit they are making indicates 
that supply has not kept pace with demand, and that it is 
not likely to be overdone in the near future. 

Professor B. T. Galloway, in an article in The World's 
Work, says, "An acre of soil under glass pays fifty times as 
much as an acre outdoors. There are annually sold in this 
country six to seven million dollars' worth of carnation 
flowers. There are no less than eight to ten million square 
feet of glass in the United States devoted to this flower 
alone." 

Although Mr. Rockefeller's place at Tarrytown is the 
largest competitor in the New York market for violets, 
there is no local monopoly in that, and the local producer 
with personal attention can do well. 

In the Country Gentleman an account is given of a violet 
farm on the north shore of Illinois, where two women are 
supplying local florists. One of them says : "We started our 
farm last spring in the face of most discouraging prophecies 
from our friends and the keenest competition of violet 
growers of New York. But we believed we could be suc- 
cessful. We had studied the best scientific methods of 
growing the plants, had imported the best soil obtainable, 
and built a greenhouse fully adapted to our needs, so we 
just went ahead and we found it to be a paying proposition. 

" Our first experiment was in using cuttings from the violet 



FLOWERS 137 

farm of a lady at Lansing, Michigan, who has been a most 
successful grower. These did not thrive, and we next 
imported 3000 cuttings from the Tarrytown neighborhood, 
where violet culture has been most successful. 

"The first rule is to keep the temperature of the green- 
house between forty-five and fifty degrees. Violets are 
spring flowers, and wither and droop if the temperature is 
not at the right degree. Most people think the double 
violets have no fragrance because most of those that we get 
lose their fragrance in transit. 

"We supply 2000 flowers a w^eek, and as they reach our 
patrons within two or three hours at the most from the 
time of cutting, they retain their fragrance. They are also 
larger and of a deeper color than the New York flowers. 
Next year we hope to go in on a much larger scale. 

"While the work is not hard, it requires infinite care and 
vigilance when the little plants are growing. As a career 
for a woman, violet growing offers greater inducements 
than anything I can think of." 

Then, surely, others can succeed in other flowers at other 
places. While there is little choice between the standard 
styles of greenhouses for violets, there should be abundant 
provision for supplying fresh air, either from the sides or 
top, whichever is chosen. The system of ventilation should 
admit of operation either from the inside or the outside of 
the house, as fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas is some- 
times necessary, in the fumes of which it is impossible to 
enter, unless with a gas mask. 

The arrangement of the house should secure the greatest 
possible supply of sunshine in December and January, 
and the least possible during the growing season, when, 
as Miss Howard points out, it is necessary to secure as low 



138 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

a temperature as possible, so as to obtain good, vigorous, 
healthy-growing plants. The best site is a level piece of 
ground, or one sloping gently to the south. 

Of the diseases to which cultivated violets are subject, 
Mr. P. H. Dorsett, of the Department of Agriculture, names 
four as especially dangerous : Spot disease, producing whit- 
ish spots on the foliage; root rot, apt to attack young 
plants transplanted in hot, dry weather ; wet rot, a fungus 
apt to appear in too moist air or where ventilation is in- 
sufficient; and yellowing, of the cause of which little is 
known. Any of these diseases is difficult to exterminate 
when it once gains a foothold. The best thing to do is to 
get strong, vigorous cuttings, and then to give careful 
attention to watering, cultivation, and ventilation, and the 
destruction of dead and dying leaves and all runners as fast 
as they appear. 

Among insect enemies, the aphids, red spiders, eel worms, 
gall flies, and slugs may be mentioned. Most of these can 
be easiest controlled by hydrocyanic acid gas treatment. 

Chrysanthemums, especially of preternatural size and 
bizarre colors, — the college colors at football games, for 
instance, — are in great demand. They are extremely deco- 
rative, and their remarkable lasting quality insures their 
permanent popularity. I have heard that the unexpanded 
bud can be cooked like cauliflower for the table ; but we have 
not learned to use them in that way. In Japan and China 
the leaves of the chrysanthemum are esteemed as a salad. 
One attempt has been made by English gardeners to intro- 
duce this use of them into England, but it was unsuccessful. 

The annual shows of chrysanthemums and of roses indi- 
cate the importance of the business. 

It is not generally known, but the poppies are coming 



FLOWERS 139 

into favor for cut flowers in spite of the fact that they do 
not keep very well. Miss Edith Granger avoids this diffi- 
culty, as she explains in the Garden Magazine, "by picking 
off all blooms that have not already lost their petals in the 
evening, so that in the morning all the open flowers will be 
new ones. These are cut as early as possible, even while 
the dew is still upon them, and plunged immediately into 
deep water." 

You need not be discouraged by the low prices at which 
flowers, especially violets and roses, are often offered in 
the streets. Those flowers are the discarded stock or de- 
layed shipments of the swell florists. You will find that 
those flowers are fading, or revived with salt, and will not 
keep. 

That they are so peddled, shows that everybody, at hotels, 
dinners, funerals, weddings, in the home, and the young 
men for the young women, want flowers, the loveliest things 
ever made without souls. We have only to supply such a 
want to find our place in life. 

Fleischman, of Fifth Avenue, estimates cut flowers, not 
cut prices, since the war in the New York winter market : — 

Violets, $1.00 per hundred; Carnations, Killarney Roses, 
Brides and Maids, Richmonds, $1.00 per dozen; American 
Beauty Roses, $1.50 to $5.00 per dozen; Valley Lilies, 
$3.00 per bunch of 25; Chrysanthemums, choicest, $2.00 
to $5.00 per dozen. 

These prices continue indefinitely. The winter wholesale 

figures are : 

Violets $ .35 to $1.00 per hundred 

Carnations, common 1.00 to 1.50 per hundred 

Carnations, selects 1.50 to 2.00 per hundred 

Carnations, fancies 2.00 to 5.00 per hundred 

Killarney Roses 1.00 to 6.00 per hundred 



140 



THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



Brides and Bridesmaids, Special 
Brides and Bridesmaids, Extra 
Brides and Bridesmaids, No. 1 
Brides and Bridesmaids, No. 2 
Richmond . . . 
Beauties, Specials 
Beauties, Fancy 
Beauties, Extra 
Beauties, No. 1 
Beauties, No. 2 
Lily of the Valley 
Chrysanthemums, Ordinary 
Chrysanthemums, Fancy 



$3.00 

2.00 

1.00 

.25 

1.00 

15.00 

10.00 
8.00 
4.00 
2.00 
3.00 
6.00 

20.00 



to $4.00 per 
to 6.00 per 
to 1.50 per 
to .75 per 
to 6.00 per 
to 20.00 per 
to 20.00 per 
to 10.00 per 
to 6.00 per 
to 3.00 per 
and upward 
to 10.00 per 
and upward 



hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

hundred 

per hundred 

hundred 

per hundred 



As a side line the common flowers will bring good prices ; 
mignonette, bachelor buttons, cosmos, and even nasturtiums, 
which you can't keep from growing if you just stick the 
seed in the ground, or lilies of the valley, which you can 
hardly get rid of once they start, never go begging, if they 
are fresh. 

A favorite flower with many is the sweet pea, which can 
be grown out of doors in the summer time where you have 
a good depth and quality of soil. 

I have seen May blossoms and autumn leaves on the 
branch and even goldenrod brought into town and sold at 
good prices. 

Enterprises often look attractive at a distance; for in- 
stance, raising orchids, especially as some of the flowers 
remain on the plants ready for market for weeks and bring 
high prices. But to ship flowers at a profit they must be in 
quantities, else the expenses eat up the returns, and they 
must be shipped with considerable regularity, else you lose 
your customers. To get such a supply of orchids would 
take a very large capital and involve so much labor that it 
is doubtful if more than good interest could be realized on it. 



FLOWERS 141 

Many florists make money by keeping constantly on hand 
ferns, palms, and other plants like rubber trees, which they 
rent out for social functions, weddings, and other occasions. 
Most florists in the larger cities have also quite a thriving 
business in tree planting, which is everywhere on the in- 
crease. A highly specialized department of horticulture 
is that of raising young trees and plants to sell for improv- 
ing grounds, planting orchards, or similar uses. The nurs- 
ery business bears much the same relation to the commercial 
florist or orchardist as seed growing does to the market 
gardener. 

Certain communities, through favorable soil or climate, 
are best adapted to the production of nursery stock. Conse- 
quently, one finds this industry most highly developed in 
scattered localities. It is true that people with small 
capital should not tackle a business so technical as this. 

The business of bulb production is another highly spe- 
cialized department. In certain sections of Holland large 
areas of the rich lowlands are given over to bulbs of various 
kinds of lilies, nearly all of which are propagated in that 
manner. To attain perfection, at least in the North, most 
bulbs require deep, rich, warm, and highly manured soils ; and 
assiduous attention at every stage. In many plant spe- 
cialties, the gardeners of Europe still far surpass our own, 
because conditions there have forced them to make use of 
every available means to increase production. The im- 
mense price that European gardeners have to pay for land 
has been a most potent factor in forcing them to seek out 
and apply the most ingenious forcing methods. The time is 
upon us here in America also when we must find out the 
highest use of land and apply it to that use. 

As the aesthetic qualities of our people become more 



142 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

highly developed, the business of raising flowers must be- 
come of increasing importance, and will readily reward 
any one who goes into it conscientiously. Flower growing 
is peculiarly adapted to women, since the work is light. 
There are few disagreeable features, unless it be the han- 
dling of the manure incidental to the best results. 

Still, the enjoyments of agriculture depend upon individual 
tastes. I have seen "lady gardeners" picking strawberries 
with the footman holding up an umbrella to screen them 
from the sun. 

Some women would like that, some not. 



CHAPTER XV 

DRUG PLANTS 

A SOURCE of profit from land to which little attention has 
been given in the United States is collecting or raising plants, 
some part of which may be used for medicinal purposes. 
We condense from Farmers' Bulletin No. 188, United States 
Department of Agriculture : 

Certain well-known weeds are sources of crude drugs at 
present obtained wholly or in part from abroad. Roots, 
leaves, and flowers of several of the species most detrimental 
in the United States are gathered, cured, and used in Europe, 
and supply much of the demands of foreign lands. Some of 
these plants are in many states subject to anti-weed laws, and 
farmers are required to take measures tow^ard their extermi- 
nation. 

The prices paid for crude drugs from these sources save in 
war time are not great and would rarely tempt any one to 
this work as a business. Yet if in ridding the farm of weeds 
and thus raising the value of the land the farmer can at the 
same time make these pests the source of a small income in- 
stead of a dead loss, something is gained. 

One rather alluring fact contained in an article by Dr. 
True, is that a shortage has become keenly felt in "Golden 
Seal," which the early American settlers learned from the 
Indians to use as a curative for sore and inflamed eyes, as 
well as for sore mouth. The plant grows in patches in high 

143 



144 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

open woods, and was formerly found in great abundance in 
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia, but is now so 
rare that its price has risen from thirty-five cents wholesale 
in 1898 to over seventy-five cents a pound. Persons in 
different parts of the country have undertaken the produc- 
tion of Golden Seal on a commercial scale. More than six 
hundred dollars' worth can be grown on an acre : so a crop 
this year would be a fortune. The methods of raising it can 
be ascertained upon application to the Department of Agri- 
culture. 

Ginseng is one of the drug crops which paid handsome 
returns a few years ago, perhaps because it takes from five 
to seven years to grow from seeds ; but so many went into 
that line that few men to-day make anything at it. Further- 
more, the Chinese, who use a large part of it, will buy only 
the wild roots — and they know the difference. Those who 
control the trade have burned quantities in the effort to keep 
up the price. 

There are some drug plants which might be raised with 
success by those who would specialize in one plant, but the 
lesson we learn from ginseng should act as a warning. 

Raising drugs is one of those things that seems to be more 
profitable to teach others to do than to do yourself. A well- 
known Professor said to me : " If I were twenty-five and knew 
what I know about drugs and the market for them, I should 
go into the drug-raising business. But I should expect to 
lose money for some years. If I were a small clerk, say, or 
an old man who wanted to get out of city life, and I had $500 
I really wanted to venture in drug raising, I should divide 
it in half — half I should put in the bank and the other half 
I should throw into the Hudson River. Then I should be 
sure of $250 instead of being drawn on to spend it all." 



DRUG PLANTS 145 

" Most of the people who have been In the business, notably 
the Shakers, who used to do the most of it, are gradually 
getting out of it. The few men who make money raising 
drugs keep it to themselves." 

In many cases when weeds have been dug the work of 
handling and curing them is not excessive and can readily 
be done by women and children. 

Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the importance 
of carefully and thoroughly drying all crude drugs, whether 
roots, herbs, leaves, barks, flowers, or seeds, and putting 
them under cover at nightfall. If poorly dried, they will 
heat and become moldy in shipping, and the collector will 
find his goods rejected by the dealer and have all his trouble 
for nothing. Leaves, herbs, and flowers should never be 
washed. 

It is important also to collect in proper season only, as 
drugs collected out of season are unmarketable on account 
of inferior medicinal qualities, and there will also be a greater 
shrinkage in a root dug during the growing season than when 
it is collected after growth has ceased. 

The roots of annual plants should be dug in the autumn 
of the first year just before the flowering period, and those of 
biennial and perennial plants in the fall of the second or 
third year, after the tops have dried. 

After the roots have been dug the soil should be well 
shaken from them, and all foreign particles, such as dirt, roots, 
and parts of other plants, should be removed. If the roots 
cannot be sufficiently cleared of soil by shaking, they should 
be thoroughly washed in clean water. Drugs must look 
wholesome at least. It does not pay to be careless in this 
matter. The soil increases the weight of the roots, but the 
purchaser is not willing to pay by weight for dirt, and grades 



146 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the uncleaned or mixed drugs accordingly. It is the bright, 
natural looking root, leaf, or plant that will bring a good 
price. 

After washing, the roots should be carefully dried by ex- 
posing them to light and air, on racks or shelves, or on clean, 
well-ventilated barn floors, or lofts. They should be spread 
out thinly and turned occasionally from day to day until 
completely cured. When this point is reached, in perhaps 
three to six weeks, the roots will snap readily when bent. 
If dried out of doors they should be placed under shelter at 
night and upon the approach of rain. 

Some roots require slicing and removing fibrous rootlets. 
In general, large roots should be split or sliced when green in 
order to facilitate drying. 

Barks of trees should be gathered in spring, when the sap 
begins to flow, but may also be peeled in winter. In the case 
of the coarser barks (as elm, hemlock, poplar, oak, pine, and 
wild cherry) the outer layer is shaved off before the bark 
is removed from the tree, which process is known as "rossing.*' 
Only the inner bark of these trees is used medicinally. Barks 
may also be cured by exposure to sunlight, but moisture must 
be avoided. 

Leaves and herbs should be collected when the plants are 
in full flower. The whole plant may be cut and the leaves 
may be stripped from it, rejecting the coarse and large stems 
as much as possible, and keeping only the flowering tops and 
more tender stems and leaves. 

Both leaves and herbs should be spread out in thin layers 
on clean floors, racks, or shelves, in the shade, but where there 
is free circulation of air, and turned frequently until thor- 
oughly dry. Moisture will darken them. 

Flowers are collected when they first open or immediately 



DRUG PLANTS 147 

after, not when they are beginning to fade. Seeds should be 
gathered just as they are ripening, before the seed pods open, 
and should be winnowed in order to remove fragments of 
stems, leaves, and shriveled specimens. 

The collector should be sure that the plant is the right one. 
Many plants closely resemble one another, and some " yarbs," 
contrary to the popular impression, are deadly poison — 
nightshade (belladonna) and the wild variety of parsnips, 
for instance. Therefore, where any doubt exists, send a 
specimen of the entire plant, including leaves, flowers, and 
fruits, to a drug dealer or to the nearest state experiment 
station for identification. 

Samples representative of the lot of drugs to be sold should 
be sent to the nearest commission merchant, or drug store, 
for inspection and for quotation on the amount of drug that 
can be furnished, or for information as to where to send the 
article. 

In writing to the different dealers for information and 
for prices, which vary greatly, it should be stated how much 
of a particular drug can be furnished and how soon this can 
be supplied, and postage should always be inclosed for reply. 
The collector should bear in mind that freight is an important 
item, and it is best, therefore, to address the dealers acces- 
sible to the place of production. The package containing 
the sample should be plainly marked with contents and the 
name and address of the sender. When ready for shipment 
crude drugs may be tightly packed in burlap or gunny sacks, 
or in dry, clean barrels. 

Burdock root brings from three to eight cents per pound, 
and seed five to ten cents. About fifty thousand pounds of 
the root is imported annually, and the best has come from 
Belgium. 



148 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Of dock roots, about 125,000 pounds are imported annually, 
at from two to eight cents. 

The field for the sale of dandelion root is large. 

Of couch grass, the roots of which cause much profanity in 
this country, there are some 250,000 pounds annually im- 
ported at from three to seven cents per pound. 

A common weed with which there is a considerable trouble 
is the pokeweed, the root of which brings from two to five 
cents per pound and the dried berries ^ve cents per pound. 

Forty to sixty thousand pounds of foxglove are imported 
from Europe. Analysis has shown that the leaves of the 
wild American foxglove are as good as the European article, 
the price of which per pound ranges from six to eight cents. 

Of mullein flowers about five thousand pounds used to be 
imported, chiefly from Germany. The leaves are also im- 
ported. 

Dried leaves and tops of lobelia bring from three to eight 
cents per pound, while the seed commands fifteen to twenty 
cents per pound. 

Of tansy about thirty-five thousand pounds have been 
imported annually at a price ranging from three to six cents. 

The flowering tops and leaves of the gum plant are used as 
a drug. They bring from five to twelve cents per pound. 

Boneset leaves and tops bring from two to eight cents per 
pound. Catnip tops and leaves two to eight cents per pound. 

Of horehound about 125,000 pounds are imported annually, 
prices being three to eight cents per pound. 

Blessed thistle is cultivated in Germany, and it is imported 
to a limited extent. 

Yarrow is a weed common from the New England states 
to Missouri. It is imported in small quantities, and brings 
from two to five cents per pound. 



DRUG PLANTS 149 

Canada fleabane brings from six to eight cents per pound. 

Of jimsonweed, leaves are imported, from 100,000 to 
150,000 pounds annually, and 10,000 pounds of seed. Leaves 
bring two and one half to eight cents per pound, and seeds 
from three to seven cents per pound. 

Of poison hemlock, seeds are imported from ten to twenty 
thousand pounds annually. Price for the seed is three cents 
per pound, for the leaves about four cents. The flowers 
are also used. 

The American wormseed has been naturalized from tropi- 
cal America to New England ; the seed commands from six 
to eight cents per pound ; the oil distilled from this seed brings 
one dollar and a half per pound. 

Black mustard, which is a troublesome weed in almost 
every state in the Union, is nevertheless imported in enor- 
mous quantities, the total imports of the seeds of the black 
and white mustard amounting annually to over five million 
pounds, the prices being from three to six cents per pound. 
All these prices and quantities were before the war and may 
greatly change after it. 

In studying the wild drug plants, one may learn the im- 
mense variety of field salads and greens. On a visit to the 
Spirit Fruit Society at Ingleside, Illinois, one of the girls took 
me out to gather wild vegetables for dinner. We pulled up 
about a dozen varieties out of the corners of a field ; two or 
three of the nice looking ones that I gathered the young lady 
threw out, saying she did not know them ; but it seemed to me 
that she took almost anything that was not too tough. The 
following are commonly used as salads : Dandelion, yellow 
racket, purslane (pusley), watercress, nasturtium; and the 
following as greens for cooking : narrow or sour dock, stinging 
nettle, pokeweed, pigweed or lamb's quarters, black mustard. 



150 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Young milkweed is better than spinach, and also makes an 
excellent salad. Probably all the salad leaves could be 
cooked to advantage. Rhubarb leaves and horseradish tops 
are garden greens usually neglected most unfairly. 

Osage Orange {maclura aurantiaca) is generally supposed to 
be poison, and is described in Webster's dictionary as " a hard 
and inedible fruit," but I have found one kind, at least, 
superior to quinces. 

Capsicum or red pepper, licorice (the imports of which have 
all been in the hands of one person), camphor, belladonna, 
henbane, and stramonium are possible fields for culture ; but 
they are all experiments. 

If you are growing poppies for the flowers it might be worth 
while to gather some opium, especially if the new process 
succeeds in separating morphine directly from the plant. 

Caraway seeds, anise, coreander, and sage are common 
garden plants that may be sold as drugs. 



CHAPTER XVI 

NOVEL LIVE STOCK 

Occasionally we hear stories of the wealth which is 
being made on a frog farm here or there. But as a rule 
little commercial success has attended attempts in this 
direction. 

The difficulty lies in feeding them. A single frog can be 
fed by dangling a piece of meat before it, but it would be 
impossible to feed thousands this way. There are so many 
enemies that few tadpoles become adult frogs ; besides, the 
frog is a cannibal and will eat not only the larvae or eggs, 
but the tadpoles and young frogs as well. 

Frog culture is successful in some places where ponds are 
large enough to be partitioned, separating the tadpoles and 
young frogs from the old ones, and where insects are abun- 
dant enough to supply food naturally for them. Near San 
Francisco there are a number of frog ranches. Even in 
1903, according to Mary Heard in Out West, one ranch sold 
to San Francisco markets 2600 dozen frogs* legs, netting 
$1800. This was considered poor. Frogs' legs are sold to 
hotels and restaurants, and bring in New York, according 
to size and season, from fifty cents to a dollar a pound. 

Tons of frogs come to New York markets each year from 
Canada, Michigan, and from the South and West. Few 
people outside of the cities eat them. The United States 
Fish Commissioners reported the product in one year: 

151 



152 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Arkansas, 58,800 lb., valued at $4162; Indiana, 24,000 
lb., valued at $5026; Ohio, 14,000 lb., valued at $2340; 
Vermont, 5500 lb., valued at $825, etc. — a total of $22,953. 

The enormous and increasing prices of large diamond- 
backed turtles, and the cheapness of little ones shows that 
maturing, at least, if not actually breeding them, would be 
well worth investigation. Many wealthy New Yorkers 
send direct to Maryland for their supplies. Where turtle 
meat is bottled or canned, the snapping turtle and the com- 
mon box tortoise are sometimes used as "substitutes." 
Both are capital eating. 

The carp is one of the most excellent fresh water fish, and 
is of great value on account of the facility of culture and 
the enormous extent to which this is carried on. "In Eu- 
rope some artificial ponds comprise an area of no less than 
20,000 acres, and the proceeds amount to about 500,000 
pounds of carp per annum." (Hessel, in "Carp and Its 
Culture.") 

It attains the weight of three to four pounds in three years 
without artificial feeding, and much more under more favor- 
able conditions. It lives to a great age and continues to grow 
all the while. 

" In Europe it is common to see carp weighing from thirty 
to forty pounds and more, measuring nearly three and one 
half feet in length and two and three quarters feet in cir- 
cumference." 

It lives on vegetable food, insects, larvae, and worms, and 
will not attack other fishes or their spawn. It is easy to 
raise, and, provided certain general rules are followed, suc- 
cess will attend its culture. 

The localities best adapted to a carp pond are those in 
which there is sufficient water at hand for the summer as 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 153 

well as the winter. A mud or loam soil is best adapted for 
such a pond. A rocky, gravelly ground is not suited for 
carp; the water should be the same depth all the year, as 
variation has an injurious effect on the fish. 
■ Carp spawn in the spring. In stocking a pond three fe- 
males are calculated to two males. The females lay a 
great number of eggs, but only a small number are impreg- 
nated. The most liberal estimate will not exceed from 800 
to 1000 to one spawner, the aggregate per acre amounting 
to from 4000 to 5000. 

The large cities containing large numbers of Europeans 
furnish the principal markets for carp. The Jewish people 
will not, as a rule, buy carp unless they are alive, so it is not 
an uncommon thing to see fish dealers in the Hebrew quar- 
ters pushing through the streets carts constructed as tanks 
and peddling the carp alive. 

Some years ago carp ponds were quite a fad among farmers 
of the Central West. Americans have been slow to adopt 
the German carp as a food fish. 

Trout, of course, can be raised, and the high prices which 
they bring, both in market and for fishing privileges, make 
them very attractive; but the cold running water needed 
makes opportunity for breeding them with access to a good 
market generally unavailable to owners of five acres. 

There is another fish, famous for its eating qualities, which 
well repays effort put upon its production. I refer to the 
black bass. It is indigenous to the waters of the Eastern 
states, where it is usually found in creeks or rivers. It can 
be successfully bred in properly constructed ponds. 

Mr. Dwight Lyell, in Forest and Stream, has this to say 
about a breeding place for the small-mouthed black bass. 
"The pond should be six feet deep in the center and two 



154 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

feet around the edge ; the bottom should be of natural sand ; 
water plants should be growing in profusion, particularly 
such aquatic plants as the Daphnia, Bosmina, and the 
Corix, to furnish food for the young bass. A good size for 
a breeding pond is 100 X 100 feet." For spawning, artificial 
nest frames are built in rectangular form. They are made 
two feet square without bottoms. On two adjoining sides 
these frames are four inches high and on the other two ad- 
joining sides sixteen inches high. These frames are made 
because the bass needs a barrier behind which the spawning 
may be done and which will protect the nest when made. 
For raising the fish to a size large enough for food, ponds can 
be of any convenient size. In order to keep the water in 
healthful condition the pond must be fed by a flowing brook 
with some provision to prevent the water being disturbed 
by freshets. This can usually be arranged by a sluice to 
carry off the surplus water during heavy rains. Black bass 
raised in shallow ponds will take the fly all summer, so that 
considerable may be made from fishing privileges. 

In the absence of minnows, which are the food of the 
bass, they must be fed on fresh liver cut in threads like an 
angle worm to tempt the fish. Even then the liver diet 
must be varied by feeding minnows from September until 
the bass goes into winter quarters. In no other way can 
fertile eggs be assured for the spring hatching. Minnows 
left in the pond all winter will breed and so furnish fry on 
which the young bass can feed the next summer." 

What has been said refers particularly to the small- 
mouthed black bass. The conditions are substantially the 
same for the large-mouthed bass (which grows to a much 
larger size), except that the bottom may be made of Spanish 
moss imbedded in cement. 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 155 

There is a growing market for the young bass or finger- 
lings to stock streams and ponds. The relation between 
the producer of stock fish and those who expect to raise 
bass of a marketable size is about the same as exists between 
the professional seed grower and the market gardener. It is 
much better for the small farmer who has or can make an 
artificial pond to buy his fingerlings from the professional 
breeder, who has facilities which are too elaborate to be 
duplicated on a small scale. 

Fish culture, except under government auspices, is little 
known in the United States. 

American Homes and Gardens has an account of the 
breeding of pheasants, which is of interest. That it is pos- 
sible to breed pheasants, even around an ordinary suburban 
home, is shown by Mr. Homer Davenport, the famous car- 
toonist, who succeeded in breeding and raising some of the 
choicest pheasants on his place at Morris Plains, New Jersey. 

A great variety of species are commonly bred, but all of 
them came from China or India. The pheasant can be 
tamed by careful handling, but cats and dogs and other 
small animals must be kept away. The pheasantry should 
be placed on high, well-drained ground with a southern ex- 
posure, where the soil is good enough to raise clover, oats, 
and barley. The quarters for pheasants and the manage- 
ment are very much like those for fancy chickens. The yard 
should be inclosed by wire netting both on sides and top to 
keep the birds from wandering away ; and there should be 
houses for roosting and breeding with nesting quarters at- 
tached. 

In Central Park, New York, the running space allotted 
to three or four birds is not more than ten by twenty feet, 
and Mr. George Ethelbert Walsh tells of a case where sixty 



156 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

pheasants were kept in excellent condition in a house ten 
by fifty feet, with five yards attached, averaging 10 X 25 
feet. However, with pheasants, as with all the bird family, 
especially turkeys, the more ground they have for ranging 
the less liable they will be to disease. The chief difficulty 
in breeding game birds like the pheasant is to secure the 
insects, such as flies, maggots, and ant eggs, which are the 
natural food of the young. Sufficient green food like lettuce, 
turnip tops, cabbage, etc., must also be provided. There is 
always a market at fancy prices for more of the matured 
birds than can possibly be supplied. 

Some people make money in breeding or training fancy 
birds like canaries, mocking birds, finches, parrots, and so 
on; but this industry can be carried on almost as well in 
rooms in the city as in the country. Specializing on any 
kind of animal rearing must be gone into with extreme 
caution, because in the breeding of animals there are many 
factors to be dealt with which do not confront the breeder 
of plants. Make haste slowly, and before branching out be 
sure that you master each step in its turn. 

An industry which is practically unknown in this coun- 
try, but which flourishes in Burgundy, France, is the raising 
of snails for food. Those who are shocked by this will be 
surprised to learn that snail culture w^as practiced by the 
Romans at the time of the Civil War between Caesar and 
Pompey, as Jacques Boyer says in American Homes and 
Gardens. The snail lays from fifty to sixty eggs annually. 
They are deposited in a smooth hole prepared for them in 
the ground and hatched within twenty days. So rapidly 
do they grow that they are ready for market six or eight 
weeks after hatching. The snail park is made by inclosing 
a plot of damp, limy soil with smooth boards coated with 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 157 

tar to prevent the snails climbing out, and held in place by 
outside stakes strong enough to withstand the wind. The 
boards must penetrate the soil to the depth of eight inches 
at least, and at a level with the ground they must have a sort 
of shelf to prevent the snails from burrowing under them. 
When the snail encounters an obstacle in its path, it lays 
its eggs, sensible beast. Ten thousand snails can be raised 
on a plot of land one hundred by two hundred feet. The 
ground is plowed deeply in the spring, the snails are placed 
on it and covered with from two to four inches of moss or 
straw which is kept damp. They must be fed daily with 
lettuce, cabbage, vine leaves, or grass ; as they eat at night, 
they are fed shortly before sunset. Aromatic herbs, like 
mint, parsley, etc., are planted in the inclosure to improve 
the flavor of the snails. 

In October, the snails having become fat through the 
summer, retire into their shells, the mouths of which they 
close with a thin gelatinous covering. They are now ready 
for picking, and are put on screens or trays which are piled 
together in storehouses, where they remain several months 
without food. When the fast has been sufficiently prolonged, 
the shells are brushed up and the snails cooked in salt water 
in a great pot holding about ten thousand. When cooked, 
they are immediately sent to the consumer in wooden boxes 
holding from fifty to two hundred. The business is a very 
profitable one, as the snail is considered a great delicacy by 
epicures. 

Perhaps the silkworm is not exactly in place in a chapter 
on Novel Live Stock. It is at present not much more than 
an interesting experiment, but there will be money in silk- 
worm culture as soon as a market for the product is de- 
veloped. The main diflSculty is lack of food, as the worm 



158 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

thrives best on the leaf of the white mulberry tree. Until a 
substitute is found, it will be necessary therefore to set out 
young trees, which in two years will bear enough leaves to 
supply food. The labor of silkworm rearing all comes in 
one month. It can be carried on in any large, airy room. 
The eggs are hatched by the summer heat, and the worm 
does not become a heavy eater until the last two weeks. It 
sheds its skin four times, and after the final moult it climbs 
into loose brush prepared for it and spins the cocoon. These 
are then dried and shipped. 

At the South, where the climate is well suited for silk cul- 
ture, an obstacle has been found in the unadaptability of the 
cheap labor, particularly colored labor, to the delicate han- 
dling, and especially winding of the silk from the cocoons. 

Many people make money by breeding dogs. Not much 
land is required and very little capital, as kennels can be 
multiplied as demand increases. There is always a profit- 
able market for dogs, and some of the lap species, like the 
King Charles spaniel, bring fabulous prices. Hunting dogs, 
such as setters, pointers, retrievers, really require a game 
country and a practical hunter who can train the puppies, 
to make much of a success of it; with these, if properly 
handled, the business is a safe one, as there is little other 
technical skill required beyond ordinary care, such as is 
given to domestic animals. 

Cats are a better venture than dogs because they are 
sold to women who will pay any price for what strikes their 
fancy. Fashions in cats change about as fast as fashions in 
coats, but cats breed faster than coats wear out, so it is 
quick business. 

Just now, coon cats, tortoise-shell cats, and bizarre colors 
of Persian cats are mostly in vogue, but the tailless Manx 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 159 

cat, and even freaks like the six-toed cat and lynx cats 
always find a ready market. 

Of course, these can be raised in the city, but if it is done 
in a large enough way to make a living out of it, the Board 
of Health and the neighbors will raise — something else. 

Fishing and hunting are primitive industries of which we 
think only in connection with wild land. But every bay 
and pond and wood will supply at least some subsistence or 
profit to the intelligent seeker. 

Oysters, clams, crabs, mussels, frogs, and common fish 
are found in abundance in many places, and help out with 
table expenses. Even English sparrows are delicious. 

Almost any wild animal is much more wholesome to eat 
than pork. Squirrels and even weasels are cleaner feeders 
than pigs, and the Indians eat them with great relish, while 
everybody knows the keenness of the darkies for "coon." 
Most snakes are better eating than eels and not near so re- 
pulsive — when you get used to them. 

The woodchuck is a nuisance to the farmer, covering his 
field with loads of subsoil from the burrow and then eating 
the tender sprouts; and the farmer does not know enough 
to eat his tender corpse, but he is good to eat. If a rabbit 
and a chicken could have young, it would taste like a wood- 
chuck. 

Muskrats, mink, raccoons, and gray and fox squirrels are 
easily trapped ; and the skins of those killed in that way find 
a steady market. Skins of poisoned animals do not sell so 
well, as they are rough and dry. 

In order to be profitable, these do not need to pay very 
well in proportion to the time they take, since they are 
hunted as recreation and at odd times. 

But there is a larger field in raising wild animals, which 



160 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

our Western people have not been slow to avail themselves 
of, and we hear of men being prosecuted for breeding wolves, 
coyotes, and bobcats, a kind of lynx, to get the government 
bounty for the snouts or scalps. 

In a legitimate way profit may be had from such animals. 

Ernest Thompson Seton has an article in Country Life in 
America, on raising fur-bearing animals for profit; this 
' offers a good chance for small capital and large intelligence. 
He suggests the beaver, mink, otter, skunk, and marten, and 
says that whoever would begin fur farming is better off with 
five acres than with five hundred. He describes two fox 
ranches at Dover, Maine. They raise twenty to forty silver 
foxes a year, on a little more than half an acre of land. 
The silver fox's fur is one of the most valuable on the market 
and sells at an average of $150 a pelt, that is, $3000 to 
$6000 gross for the year's work. Foxes are not expensive 
to breed, their food consisting chiefly of sour milk and corn- 
meal or flour made into a cake, and a little meat about once 
a week. 

The capital required is small. A fence for the inclosure 
should be of one and a half inch mesh No. 16 galvanized 
wire, ten feet high, with an overhang of eighteen inches to 
keep the foxes from escaping, and is about the only outlay 
except for purchase of stock. 

Stakes should be driven close to the fence to keep them 
from burrowing out. 

They are naturally clean animals, and with careful atten- 
tion are free from disease. Mr. Stevens reports that in his 
two years' experience he has had twenty to thirty foxes and 
lost none by disease, while Mr. Norton, with five years' 
experience, carrying thirty to forty, reports that one to two 
die each year. 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 161 

They breed as well in captivity as in their wild state, 
usually bringing forth a litter of six or seven in the spring. 
These breed the following spring and their fur is ready for 
market the following December. And now breeders sell 
fine stock to other breeders who are entering the industry, 
sometimes getting three to four hundred dollars per pair. 
Mr. Seton remarks, "I am satisfied that any man who has 
made a success of hens can make a success of foxes, with 
this advantage for the latter — a fox requires no more 
space or care than a hen, but is worth twenty times as 
much, and so gives a chance for returns twenty times as 
large." 

This is an infant industry, but if others can get the same 
results, it will pay handsomely. To get the best furs, 
however, requires a district where the winters are cold 
and long. 

There are a few skunk farms in the West. It is said that 
the scent gland can be taken out, though that is not neces- 
sary, and that the farms do well. Their oil is also said to be 
valuable. But while skunks are so common there cannot 
be much in breeding them. 

If your fancy goes to "critters'* rather than crops it is 
much better to raise game birds. Wild turkeys raised under 
a hen or in an incubator and made pretty tame (if too tame 
they do not thrive so well in a small area), "wild*' ducks, 
grouse, partridges, quails, even wood ducks which build 
their nests in trees are no longer experiments. 

All the common enemies you have to contend against are 
foxes, dogs, cats, rats, mink, skunks, hawks, owls, crows, 
frogs, turtles, snakes, poachers, game legislators, and 
disease. 

It has been calculated that one pair of quails and its 

M 



162 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

progeny would produce five or six million birds in eight years 
if there were no losses. But so would chickens; and prob- 
ably you will not get that many. 

All about these game birds is set forth in an advertising 
booklet called, "Game Farming" of the Hercules Powder 
Co., which has offices in a dozen cities, so we need not en- 
large. 



CHAPTER XVII 

WHERE TO GO 

Intensive cultivation, raising a big crop on little land, can 
be carried on most profitably near areas of dense population ; 
for perishable products, like fruits and vegetables, can be best 
marketed near the consumer. The limit for delivery by 
auto is about fifteen to twenty miles, and then only if roads 
are good; if the land selected lies on the line of a railroad 
which gives equal terms to way freight and to through freight, 
you will fare nearly as well. Railroads control agricultural 
development. Sparsely settled regions always practice ex- 
tensive cultivation, raising light crops on big farms, because 
only such crops can be grown as can be raised on large areas 
by machinery, and are not perishable. Staples like corn, 
wheat, pork, and beef are transported at low prices for long 
distances by the railroads. This forces the settlers in newly 
opened portions of the country to sell in a market created by 
the railroads, in competition with what is produced within 
the areas of intensive cultivation, that is, with access to 
adjacent markets. 

So we find the bonanza wheat farms of California, the 
Dakotas, and the Canadian Northwest, the pampas of the 
Argentine, the Steppes of Russia, and the Indian uplands 
devoted to wheat raising; in the United States corn belt, 
fields of from five to twenty thousand acres are still not un- 
common. 

163 



164 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Conversely, intensive cultivation is most advanced in 
China, where a dense population forced the people long ago 
to bring into use every foot of tillable soil that is left open to 
them. 

Near the towns of the United States a few market gardeners 
supply such vegetables as the people do not raise for them- 
selves. The states along the Atlantic seaboard have all the 
facilities for successful intensive cultivation — a dense popu- 
lation and idle, cultivable land. In choosing a location, the 
home crofter should well consider his experience, and try to 
enter a community where he can engage in analogous pur- 
suits. Dairy regions never have enough men who under- 
stand cattle and horses ; fruit-growing districts always need 
experienced pickers; market garden regions need men who 
understand rotating crops and making hotbeds, transplant- 
ing, etc. 

If you have a little money, you can probably do best by 
buying and draining some swamp land, which is the most 
productive of all, as it contains the washings of the upland 
for centuries. Swamp land can usually be cleared and 
drained for from thirty to forty dollars per acre. It can be 
bought very cheap and when ready to cultivate will have 
increased many times in value. 

The next best is the " abandoned " or worn-out farm. 
Proper methods of cultivation will bring it back to more than 
its original fertility. The Eastern states from Maine to 
Virginia abound with them at from five to twenty-five 
dollars per acre. In many cases the buildings are worth 
more than the whole price asked. 

The nearest land easily available in the East is in the 
state of New York. The writer believes it is true that " there 
are twenty thousand farms for sale in this state, and nearly 



WHERE TO GO 165 

all at such low prices and upon such favorable terms as to 
make them available for any one desiring to engage in agri- 
culture or have a farm home. The soil of these farms is not 
exhausted, but on the contrary is, with proper cultivation, 
very productive. Nearly all have good buildings and fences, 
are supplied with good water and plenty of wood for farm 
purposes, and in nearly all cases have apple and other fruit 
trees upon them." (List of Farms, occupied and unoccupied, 
for sale in New York State. Bureau of Information and 
Statistics, Bulletin, State of New York, Department of Agri- 
culture.) 

These farms are distributed all over the state, some in 
nearly every county. In Sullivan County, for example, 
there are farms for sale ranging in price from ten to one hun- 
dred dollars per acre. These can, almost without exception, 
be bought by small payments, balance on long mortgages, 
and it is wonderful how cheap they are. In Ulster County 
thirty farms, some of which I have seen, are offered for sale 
at trifling prices. 

Of course, many of these farms have been sold since the 
first editions of this book, and the prices have advanced, per- 
haps on the average doubled; but cheap automobiles have 
improved roads and have made others available that were 
useless ten years ago. The development of the Southern 
states, with eradication of the cattle tick (the cause of 
"Texas Fever") and irrigation and rotation of crops, has 
opened up new countries. N. O. Nelson writes he has 
bought many Louisiana farms for his cooperative enterprise 
for about what the improvements are worth. 

Cut over woodlands which we have learned to make pro- 
duce incomes of about five dollars each year per acre by in- 
telligent forestry, as well as swamp lands which we now know 



166 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

how to make healthful by drainage and by the extinction of 
mosquitoes, can still be had at low prices in New York and 
other states. Numerous others are in the market from five 
dollars per acre up, and so it goes through the state, from 
Wyoming County in the extreme western end, where farms 
ranging from thirty to three hundred acres are in the market 
at from thirty to forty dollars per acre, to St. Lawrence 
County in the north, where land can be bought as low as 
fifteen dollars per acre. 

When it is considered that these lands are within easy ac- 
cess to established markets with transportation and mail 
facilities, rural delivery, and telephone a proper idea may 
be formed of their value in opportunity. The authority 
quoted further states that "probably fifty thousand agri- 
cultural laborers can find employment on the farms of New 
York at good wages. Families particularly are wanted to 
rent houses and work farms on shares." Wages for new 
hands run from twenty to thirty dollars and upwards per 
month with board. Men who know how to milk are es- 
pecially in demand throughout the dairy regions. These con- 
ditions make it possible for experienced farmers, although 
entirely without money, to get to the soil. 

Over three hundred thousand aliens annually settled in 
the cities of New York State during some years in the last 
decade. These people could be got out of the cities, where 
in normal times they are little needed, into adjacent country 
districts where they are much needed. 

In the Real Estate Record and Guide, Mr. A. L. Langdon 
says : " It is most remarkable that there are on Long Island, 
within from thirty-five to seventy miles of New York, thou- 
sands of acres of land which have never been cultivated, which 
have for years produced nothing but cordwood, and which 



WHERE TO GO 167 

the owners allow to be overrun with fire almost every year. 
A large part of this land has soil two or three feet deep under- 
laid with gravel. The best water in the world is abundant 
and the climate is more equable than on the mainland, and 
in each locality where any reasonable effort has been made 
to cultivate the soil, it has produced plentifully of all fruits 
and vegetables which can be grown in this latitude." 

Long Island should produce all the fruit, vegetables, poultry, 
eggs, and milk needed by its own residents, with a large sur- 
plus for the city markets, instead of getting, as it does, a 
large part of its supply of these things from the city. 

When it is considered that about a quarter of a million acres 
of this land so close to the city is now scrub oak and uncul- 
tivated waste, and that there are about a million adult 
workers in the city, the importance of the experiment is ob- 
vious ; especially as we learn from the United States census 
that over ten thousand of these workers are already in agri- 
cultural pursuits within the city limits. 

"Here midway on Long Island, and just beyond the limits 
for a man to locate who expects to earn his living by daily 
work in the city, is a territory about forty miles long and ten 
miles wide which by intensive farming would yield a good 
living for more than two hundred thousand inhabitants. 
In this agricultural section, a man of small means who ex- 
pects to live on the land the year round, should purchase a 
plot not too small to produce enough to support himself and 
family and a surplus to sell, not less than six acres. Probably 
all men have more or less land hunger — a desire to own land 
— and it is a worthy object to encourage to the extent of in- 
ducing a man to purchase what he can pay for and be satisfied 
with, but it is a shameful thing to induce a poor man, who has 
to earn his living in New York, to buy on the installment 



168 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

plan a small lot so far from his place of employment that he 
cannot live on it and travel to and from his work every day, 
and where there is the strongest probability that he will never 
make more than two or three payments, and will consequently 
lose what he does pay." The writer hears of one plot which 
was sold nineteen times and the contracts defaulted on after 
payments, before any one took title. 

If the seeker is not satisfied with the opportunities which 
the state of New York offers, he may turn to New Jersey, 
equally accessible and equally rich in chances. 

New Jersey Year-Book : " There are in the southern part 
of the State large tracts of land which are still uncleared, or 
covered with brushwood, and which are adapted to tillage 
and capable of producing large crops of small fruits and mar- 
ket garden vegetables. The wood on them is mainly scrub 
oak, with some dwarfed pitch pine and yellow pine, and hence 
they are called oak lands to distinguish them from the more 
sandy lands and tracts on which the pitch pine grows almost 
exclusively. The latter are known as pine lands. The total 
area of cleared (farm) lands in the southern division of the 
State, southeast of the marl belt, is about 450,000 acres. The 
pineland belts have an aggregate area of 486,000 acres, mak- 
ing at least 800,000 acres accessible by railways from the 
large cities and also near to tidewater navigation. The 
maps of the Geological Survey show the location and the 
extent of these lands, their railway lines, and their relation 
to the settlements already made and to the cities. 

"The soils of these tracts are sandy and not naturally so 
rich and fertile as the more heavy clay soils of the limestone, 
the red shale, and the marl districts of the State, but they 
are not so sandy and so coarse-grained as to be non-produc- 
tive, like some of the pineland areas. The latter are often 



WHERE TO GO 169 

deficient in plant food and are deservedly characterized as 
pine barrens, being too poor for farm purposes. The growth 
of oak and pine, as well as chemical analyses, shows that the 
oak-land soils contain the elements of plant production. 
They are not so well suited to pasturage or to continuous 
cropping as naturally rich virgin soils ; they are better fitted 
for raising vegetables, melons, sweet potatoes, small fruits, 
peaches, and pears than wheat, Indian corn, hay, and other 
staples. The eminent superiority of this kind of farming in 
New Jersey over the old routine of wheat, corn, hay, and po- 
tatoes is well known. These South Jersey soils are easily 
cleared of brushwood or standing timber, and of stumps, 
with a hand or horse-power puller which is a cheap affair, 
and the wood is salable in all this part of the State at remu- 
nerative prices, often bringing more than the original cost of 
the land. The long working season and the short and mild 
winter favor the arrangement of work, so that all is done 
with the least outlay for help. They also favor the mos- 
quitoes. 

" The success of Hammonton, Egg Harbor City, Vineland, 
and other places is notable, and equally good results are to be 
had at a hundred or more places as well situated as they are. 
These lands are sold at low figures, and the settler saves in 
capital and interest account. Only the difficulty of getting 
money to help in building interferes with rapid settlement. 

"The West Jersey Railway, the Pennsylvania, and the 
Philadelphia and Reading's Atlantic City Railroad, the Phil- 
adelphia and Seashore Railway, the New Jersey Southern 
Railroad, and other branch roads afford excellent facilities 
for access to New York, Philadelphia, and the cities of the 
State. The Cohansey, Maurice, and Mullica rivers head well 
up near the northwest limits of these lands, and their navi- 



170 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

gable reaches run for miles across them. The waters of the 
Delaware Bay and the ocean are within a few miles of a large 
part of this oak-land domain. 

"The advantages of an old settled and Eastern State, 
within easy reach of these large markets, of land which is 
easily tilled and generous and quick in its response to feeding, 
and at low prices, make them equal to, if not better than, the 
rich prairie soils of a new West, or the low prices and cheap 
lands of the abandoned hillsides of New England." 

Wages for unskilled farm labor are about the same as for 
New York — twenty to twenty-five dollars per month. The 
canning and fruit industries make room for a large number of 
people in the late summer and fall, who may thus, by taking 
a temporary place, find some permanent location where 
they may improve their health and fortunes. 

"Delaware also offers unequalled opportunities to immi- 
grants. It is ideally situated on the Atlantic Ocean and the 
Delaware Bay, and is penetrated by numerous creeks and 
rivers. 

"The railroad, steam, and electric facilities of the State 
are developing steadily year by year, while every section of 
the State possesses easily navigable streams, with vessels 
for carrying freight and passengers. 

" Over fifteen millions of people live within a radius of three 
hundred miles ; the large majority reside in cities and towns 
and furnish the finest markets in the world. Within five 
hundred miles are more than one third of the people of all 
North America. 

"Wilmington is a city of seventy-five thousand people, is 
growing rapidly, and is becoming a great manufacturing place. 

" These people may be reached in one day by the luscious 
fruits that grow in Delaware, and every one of them is per- 



WHERE TO GO 171 

fectly happy when he gets a Delaware peach. Many other 
Delaware products are as good as the peaches. 

"As cattle and wheat raising developed in the great West, 
Delaware people thought that they were ruined. They did 
not change at once, but slowly discovered that the light 
lands are wonderfully productive of fruits and vegetables, 
and that they pay much better than cattle and grain ever 
could. But these new methods have not been adopted 
in all parts of the State, so that land neglected and unprofit- 
able is for sale. The tides of immigration have swept west- 
ward and left Delaware untouched. Men, money, and 
enterprise are needed. 

"There are few unoccupied or 'abandoned' farms in 
Delaware." The land is mostly held by descendants of the 
early settlers, who form a species of landed aristocracy. 
Lately, owing to the younger members of these families 
having become established in the newer states and on ac- 
count of the death or incapacity of the older members left 
in possession, there has been a marked tendency to sell off 
these farms. However, "a large proportion of the farms 
in Delaware are not for sale at any price. - Some of them 
have been in the same family for generations, and if put 
on the market would sell for from one to two hundred 
dollars per acre." 

The soil is all the way from a heavy white oak clay, which 
is too stiff and too sticky for most crops, to very light sand. 

The heaviest clay is made lighter and more porous, and 
the lightest sand is readily made retentive of moisture and 
extremely productive, by plow^ing in different kinds of crops 
as green manure, such as cow peas, soy beans, the vetches, 
etc. ; crimson clover, winter oats, rye, turnips, and numerous 
other crops may be sown in August or later, and produce a 



172 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

fine crop for turning under early in the spring. Crimson 
clover grows nearly all winter. Pure cold water is reached 
at from twenty to fifty feet by dug or driven wells. 

The climate is good; there are no cyclones. There is 
some damp weather in winter, but there are no malignant 
fevers, and there is little or no malaria, except in a few marshy 
places. There are some mosquitoes and flies, but they are not 
especially troublesome, and there are no poisonous reptiles. 

The population is mostly native, five sixths white, one sixth 
colored. The white population is almost entirely of Anglo- 
Saxon descent. 

" Perfect titles may be secured, but all titles everywhere 
should always be searched by a competent lawyer, the usual 
fee for which is ten to twenty dollars. 

"Farm hands receive from twenty to twenty-five dollars 
per month and board, for a season of nine or ten months, 
sometimes for the whole year. Day hands receive from 
seventy-five cents to two dollars per day and board 
themselves." 

Those who are tempted by the advertisements for fruit- 
pickers should beware. Delaware, like some other states, 
allows fees to constables and to the "squires" — Justices of 
the Peace they would be elsewhere — for arrests, and it is 
a common practice to advertise for fruit pickers, then ar- 
rest them as tramps when they come, and the next day re- 
lease them on condition that they will leave the county at 
once — and leave the trap open for the next comer. 

Delaware peaches have made fortunes for many, but will 
make still greater fortunes in the future for the owners of 
the land. 

Pears, plums, grapes, watermelons, and cantaloupes thrive, 
and find an ideal home, and small fruits all flourish. Sweet 



WHERE TO GO 173 

potatoes yield bountifully and are of the finest quality. 
Asparagus and early white potatoes pay handsome profits. 
Tomatoes, the great canning crop, are grown by the thou- 
sands of acres. 

"The grasses and clovers grow in luxuriance, and hence 
dairying and beef production are profitable. Poultry pays 
as well as anywhere else ; chickens often run on green clover 
all through the open winter. 

"The game consists of various species of ducks, quails, 
reed birds, hares, marsh rabbits, and other small creatures. 
Shad, trout, herring, crocus, black bass, pike, white fish, 
rock fish, oysters, clams, crabs, and terrapin are abundant 
in Delaware waters.'' 

The tax in the rural counties is generally sixty cents on 
the hundred dollars. Besides this there are taxes on business 
and a very light school tax. There is no state tax, yet the 
state makes large appropriations for the support of the public 
schools, which are free to everybody. 

Maryland has established a State Bureau of Immigration 
in Baltimore to give information to home seekers, and advise 
them as to choice of location, opportunities for getting started 
in agricultural production, and aid them in any way consist- 
ent with a State Bureau. Most of these facts are taken 
from such reports. 

Southern Maryland and the eastern shore are especially 
adapted to gardening and trucking, as well as fruit growing. 
Land is cheap and can be purchased in tracts of any size 
from an acre upwards, at from ten to fifty dollars per acre. 
Farms from twenty acres to seven hundred acres and up 
are for sale in nearly every county in the state. The removal 
of a large part of the negro population from the country to 
the cities has resulted in the partition of the large estates 



174 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

into smaller farms, thus affording an opportunity for home 
seekers who are seeking cheap land amid congenial surround- 
ings. Nearly all of these farms have buildings, some in 
need of repair, others in very good condition. 

For those who wish to avoid the hard work of breaking 
woodlands, the eastern and western shores offer abundant 
well-cultivated lands with buildings, orchards, and woods, 
in the immediate vicinity of navigable rivers and railways, 
on good roads at from twenty dollars per acre upwards. 
That seems cheap. 

For settlers who are accustomed to mountainous regions, 
western Maryland has land for sale at even cheaper rates. 

"There are many large tidal marshes in Maryland, as might 
be expected in a territory watered like this state. They are 
of the richest soil to be found, because the Chesapeake Bay 
is a great river valley, receiving the drainage of a vast area 
of fertile land, comprising nearly one third of New York 
and nearly all of the great agricultural states of Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, and Virginia. Every year this drainage 
brings down a black sediment, called oyster mud, which is 
deposited on the marshlands and enriches the soil, making 
it, with proper cultivation, of productivity like that of the 
rice and wheat fields of Egypt. These unreclaimed lands 
are used chiefly for grain." 

Proper drainage of small tracts of this land would bring 
unsurpassed and absolutely untouched fertility. 

The Chesapeake River valley is not so large as that of the 
Nile or Ganges, but is of enough consequence to play an im- 
portant part in human affairs and to support in comfort and 
prosperity a population as large as that of many famous states. 

"The eastern shore is uniformly level, with good roads. 
The proximity of the ocean and the bay greatly modifies the 



WHERE TO GO 175 

temperature. It has a great trunk railway, with connections 
along its entire length, called the Delaware Division of the 
Pennsylvania railroad, which furnishes direct transportation 
to Philadelphia, New York, and other northern cities." 

"On the eastern shore there are many thousand acres of 
land devoted to garden truck, and the strawberry crop has 
of late years become of importance. Over one hundred 
carloads of strawberries are shipped daily during the season 
to the Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston 
markets." 

Land properly cultivated will yield four thousand quarts 
of straw^berries to an acre. 

The canning of various fruits and vegetables has grown 
to be larger than that of any other state and is one of the 
most profitable of the industries of Maryland. The prin- 
cipal articles canned are peaches, peas, and tomatoes. 

The tomato crop is also profitable to the grower. The 
young plants are set out in the spring ; many do this with 
a machine, but two persons can easily plant seven acres 
in a day by hand. 

An acre will produce from six to eighteen tons of tomatoes, 
according to the quality of the soil. All such products bring 
better prices now in Maryland markets than they did be- 
fore canning was resorted to. The Maryland tin can is 
known wherever civilization reaches. 

Tobacco is extensively produced only in southern Mary- 
land, although it can be raised in any section of the state. 

In the neighborhood of the larger cities trucking and 
fruit growing are profitable, combined with poultry raising, 
often on farms of not more than five or ten acres. 

Many farmers devote part of their time successfully to 
bees, and there is nowhere a better climate for flowers than 



176 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

that of Maryland. Two English florists who have settled 
in Baltimore County, ten and thirteen miles northeast of 
the city, daily send to all parts of the United States and 
even to Canada many large boxes of beautiful roses, car- 
nations, violets, and other choice flowers. Both of these 
men began on a small scale and have prospered. 

The farmer who has a couple of thousand dollars to pay 
cash for a small farm in Maryland is assured of a good 
living. But also a less favored settler, if he has only from 
four to eight hundred dollars, can have a good start in Mary- 
land, and probably as good a chance for independence and 
prosperity as anywhere. 

Families of immigrants when traveling to the Western, 
Northwestern, and Southern states of America have to spend 
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars for rail- 
road tickets from New York to their destination ; by going 
to these adjoining states they can save all that money, and 
invest it in land. 

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Immigration 
also publishes information for the home seeker. 

To most people the name Virginia carries with it limitless 
vistas of tobacco fields covered with darkies plying the hoe, 
or picking off the ubiquitous worm. Before the War this 
picture would have been a true one ; but since the awaken- 
ing of the younger generation to a better understanding of 
her resources, together with the withdrawal of large numbers 
of the colored people into industrial occupations, no state 
offers more attractive inducements to the homecrofter than 
Virginia. In climate, diversity of soils, fruits, forests, water 
supply, mineral deposits, including mountain and valley, 
she offers unsurpassed advantages. Truly did Captain 
John Smith, the adventurous father of Virginia, suggest that 



WHERE TO GO 177 

" Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for 
man's habitation/' 

Virginia Ues between the extremes of heat and cold, re- 
moved alike from the sultry, protracted summers of the 
more southern states, and the longer winters and devastating 
storm and cyclones of the North and Northwest. Its limits 
north and south correspond to California and southern 
Europe. 

The climate is mild and healthful. The winters are less 
severe than in the Northern and Northwestern states, or 
even the western localities of the same latitude, while the 
occasional periods of extreme heat in the summer are not 
more oppressive than in many portions of the North. 

Tidewater Virginia, or the Coastal Plain, as it is some- 
times called, receives the name from the fact that the streams 
that penetrate it feel the ebb and flow of the tides from the 
ocean up to the head of navigation. It consists chiefly of 
broad and level plains, while a considerable portion, nearest 
to the bay, has shallow bays and estuaries, and marshes 
that are in most instances reached only by the ocean tides. 
These marshes abound with wild duck and sora. Tidewater 
is mainly an alluvial country. The soil is chiefly light, sandy 
loam, underlaid with clay. Its principal productions are 
fruits and early vegetables, which are raised in extensive 
"market gardens," and shipped in large quantities to North- 
ern cities. The fertilizing minerals — gypsum, marl, and 
greensand — abound, and their judicious use readily restores 
the lands when exhausted by improvident cultivation. 

Middle Virginia is a wide, undulating plain, crossed by 
many rivers that have cut their channels to a considerable 
depth and are bordered by alluvial bottom lands that are 
very productive. The soil consists of clays with a subsoil 

N 



178 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

of disintegrated sandstone rocks, and varies according to 
the nature of the rock from which it is formed. 

The principal productions of middle Virginia are corn, 
wheat, oats, and tobacco. The tobacco raised in this sec- 
tion and in Piedmont, known as the "Virginia Leaf," is the 
best grown and the best known in the United States. In 
this section, as in Tidewater, the low bottom lands formed 
by the sediment of the waters are exceptionally productive. 

The Piedmont section is diversified and surpassingly pic- 
turesque. The soil is heavier than that of middle Virginia, 
the subsoil being of stiff and dark red clay. On the slopes 
of the Blue Ridge grapes of delicious flavor grow luxuriantly. 
These produce excellent wines, and the clarets have a wide 
fame. The pippin apples of this section are of unrivaled 
excellence. 

The "Great Valley," as it is descriptively called, is in the 
general configuration one continuous valley, included be- 
tween the two mountain chains that extend throughout the 
state ; it is one of the most abundantly watered regions on 
the face of the globe. Deep limestone beds form the floor of 
the Great Valley, and from these beds the soil derives an 
exceeding fertility, peculiarly adapted to the growth of grasses 
and grain, and it bears the name of the "garden spot" of 
the state. 

Five trunk lines of railroads penetrate and intersect the 
state. The lines of steamboats that ply the navigable 
streams of eastern Virginia afford commercial communica- 
tion for large sections of the state with the markets of this 
country and of Europe. Norfolk and Newport News main- 
tain communication with the European markets by steamers 
and vessels, while from these ports is also kept up an exten- 
sive commerce along the Atlantic seaboard. The seaports 



WHERE TO GO 179 

are nearer than is New York to the great centers of popu- 
lation, and areas of production, of the West and Northwest. 

Market garden crops of every description can be grown. 
The following result w^as obtained on a four-acre patch near 
Norfolk : 

" The owner stated that in September he sowed spinach on 
four acres. Between Christmas and the first of March fol- 
lowing he cut and sold the spinach at the rate of one hundred 
barrels to the acre, at a price ranging from two to seven dol- 
lars per barrel — an average of $4.50 per barrel. Early in 
March the four acres were set out to lettuce, setting the 
plants in the open air with no protection whatever, 175,000 
plants on the four acres. He shipped 450 half-barrel baskets 
of lettuce to the acre, at a price ranging from $2 to $2.75 per 
basket. 

" Early in April, just before the lettuce was ready to ship, 
he planted snap beans between the lettuce rows; and to- 
day, June 2d, these are the finest beans we have seen this 
season. 

"The last week in May he planted cantaloupes between 
the bean rows, which, when marketed in July, will make 
four crops from the same land in one year's time. The 
cantaloupes will be good for 250 crates to the acre, and the 
price will run from $1 to $1.50 per crate. A careful inves- 
tigation of these ' facts, figures, and features ' will show 
that his gross sales will easily reach $2000 per acre ; his net 
profits depend largely upon the man and the management; 
but they surely should not be less than $1000 clear, clean 
profit to the acre." 

" This is for farming done all out of doors. No hothouse 
or hotbed work — not a bit of it, with no extra expense for 
hotbeds, cold frames, or hothouses." 



180 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

"Intensive/* thorough tillage and care of the soil will 
probably pay as well here as at any point in the United 
States. 

Apples are the principal fruit crop of the state. There is 
a yearly increasing number of trees. In one of the valley 
counties a seventeen-year-old orchard of 1150 trees pro- 
duced an apple crop as far back as 1905 which brought the 
owner $10,000, another of fifty twenty-year-old trees brought 
$700. Mr. H. E. Vandeman, one of the best-known horti- 
culturists in the country, says that there is not in all North 
America a better place to plant orchards than in Virginia; 
on account of its "rich apple soil, good flavor and keeping 
qualities of the fruit, and nearness to the great markets of 
the East and Europe." 

The trees attain a fine size and live to a good old age, and 
produce abundantly. In Patrick County there is a tree nine 
feet five inches around which has borne 110 bushels of apples 
at a single crop ; other trees have borne even more. One 
farmer in Albemarle County has received more than $15,000 
for a single crop of Albemarle Pippins grown on twenty 
acres of land. This pippin is considered the most delicious 
apple in the world. 

The fig, pomegranate, and other delicate fruits flourish 
in the Tidewater region. 

New England, from Maine to Rhode Island, is suffering 
from one disease — lack of intelligent labor. Thirty 
years ago the sons and daughters who, in the natural course 
of events, would have stayed to cultivate the home acres, 
left to form a part of the westward throng making for the 
level, untouched prairies of Illinois and Iowa. 

The old folks have died or become incapacitated. New 
interests chain their children to adopted homes. Result, 



WHERE TO GO 181 

— unoccupied lands by the hundred thousand acres, 
awaiting energy, skill, and faith. 

Ten dollars an acre is a common price for the rocky hills 
of New England. The choice river bottoms, and land near 
the larger cities is as high priced as similar land anywhere 
else. Intending settlers can buy small areas for little money ; 
usually the smallest farms have good buildings worth in 
many cases more than the price asked for the whole farm. 
Climatic conditions are not favorable to single cropping. 
In the old days general farming, grain, beef, sheep, and hogs 
were the rule; nowadays, special crops, dairying, fruit 
growing, etc. 

Tobacco is the great staple in the rich Connecticut River 
bottoms, and even on the uplands, if properly manured, it 
pays from one to three hundred dollars per acre. Tobacco 
can be raised on small areas far from the railroad, as, when 
properly cured and packed for shipment, it is not perishable. 
To many the worst feature of New England is the climate 

— long, cold winters and short summers. Maine being 
farthest north suffers most in this respect, but that does 
not prevent her producing hundreds of thousands of tons 
of sweet corn for canning and vast quantities of eggs and 
butter. Fruit does well on the lower coast ; a small orchard 
of peaches or plums will in three or four years from planting 
make a comfortable living. Bush fruits grow in abundance 
and give never-failing crops. 

Poultry is peculiarly successful on the rocky hills, because 
they are nearly always dry or well drained. Dairying can 
be made to pay if near a creamery, or where milk can be 
sold at retail. The prospective settler here should bear in 
mind that wherever he goes, the first year will produce 
little more than a kitchen garden; the second enable him 



182 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

barely to pull through, and the third give him a start at a 
permanent income. In farming, as in all other businesses, 
only those will succeed who know what they want and how 
to get it; who have selected with care the locality best 
suited to the special crops they intend to raise; and after 
having once made a selection, stick until they have com- 
pelled success. 

The lure of the vast West and of the new South is not 
forgotten; but the time has passed when the young man 
could go West to take a farm of Uncle Sam's. Desirable 
land is too expensive for the pioneer, and the constant toil 
and comparative isolation of the prairie farm offers but a 
poor sort of liberty, though it still affords a living. 

But close to the growing towns in those states small plots 
of land can still be had to work with the same bright pros- 
pects that are offered near the great metropolis. 

In nearly all the sections within the area of intensive cul- 
tivation, timber is still plentiful enough to make it the cheap- 
est building material ; and persons who really want to get to 
the land can contrive a sufficient shelter, like a pioneer's, 
for from two to ^ve hundred dollars. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CLEARING THE LAND 

It is pretty good fun to hack at bushes and to chop trees 
down and then to chop them up. If there is only a small 
part of the land to be cleared, a man can easily learn skill 
with the ax and do it at odd times, but he was a wise old 
man of whom his little girl said, " When grandpa wants any- 
thing, that moment he wants it." It is now that we need 
the land ; but even if it is covered with trees, there is no 
cause for discouragement. Lumber is so high that the 
local or portable sawmill men will buy the timber by the 
acre. They will cut the trees and haul the logs. 

If you decide to cut a tree yourself, a little inquiry will 
show for w^hat purpose it will bring the highest price. Lo- 
cust sticks, for example, four to six inches thick, will bring 
in New York ten or fifteen cents a running foot for insulator 
pinions. If a maple proves to be either "curly" or "bird's- 
eye" (this depending not on the variety, but on the acci- 
dental undulations of the fiber), it will be in demand for the 
manufacture of furniture. 

Sugar maples ten or fifteen feet high can be transplanted 
or sold. Nut and fruit trees will nearly alw^ays be worth 
keeping. 

Cedar sticks fourteen feet long will bring twenty cents in 
most places for hop and bean poles. See what can be sold 
instead of burned, and don't cut down recklessly ; an unsal- 

183 



184 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

able tree may be valuable as a windbreak or as shade for 
your house. The wrong tree for shade is the dense foliaged, 
low-branched tree which forms a solid dome from the ground 
up. The right tree, in the opinion of Henry Hicks (in Country 
Life in America), is the American elm, which ought to be 
called the umbrella tree. Pliny speaks of the plane tree, 
our sycamore or buttonwood, as excellent, because of the 
horizontal branches which, like window blinds, allow free 
passage of the breezes while intercepting the heat of the sun. 

The ideal shade tree is a canopy like a parasol over the 
house, with high, leafy branches that do not shut off light 
and air from the windows. This cools a house by keeping 
the sun off and cools the air by the rapid evaporation from its 
leaves, and will make it ten to fifteen degrees cooler in sum- 
mer. It will be cheaper and more effective than a com- 
bination of awnings, piazza, and eaves. Woodman, spare 
that tree. 

Stumps may be burned out To get a good draught, 
bore a hole in a slanting direction far down among the roots. 
The smoke goes through the hole first and then the flame, 
boring the body to the roots deep enough to plow. Land 
can also be cleared by dynamite. We condense from Edith 
Loring Fullerton in Farming on what has been done. 

To go into the desolate, uncultivated, burned over " waste 
lands" near a great city and put ten acres under cultivation 
in the shortest possible space of time was our problem. We 
undertook it at short notice in an uncertain season — the 
autumn — with the determination to get at least a portion 
of the land seeded down to winter rye before cold weather 
prohibited further work. 

United to this problem was that of working a small farm 
to its utmost capacity rather than half cultivation of a 



CLEARING THE LAND 185 

large one, which is difficult to handle from lack of time 
and labor and an unwise proposition for the East under the 
most favorable circumstances. 

Ten acres of scraggy-looking woodland was purchased, 
sixty-eight miles from New York City on the north shore of 
Long Island. The plot had a few second and third growth 
oak and chestnut trees and "sprouts" along the borders. 
All else had been burned, and the center of the acreage 
exhibited the mangled and blackened remains of a once 
thrifty woodland. 

We proceeded to choose as our helpers native Long Is- 
landers whom we were desirous of allowing to work. We 
succeeded by strenuous efforts in getting together a "gang" 
of both colored and white men to the stupendous number 
of eight. They fell to work with a right good will, at first 
cutting down here and trimming up there as directed. How- 
ever, after giving them a fair trial, we decided that they 
must be replaced by Italians. The question of housing the 
eighteen Italians soon came up. Tents might be adopted 
or even the unsanitary "dugout" be allowed to mar the 
landscape. A shanty was entirely too ugly to suit our tastes, 
and also expensive, and useless when the men were through 
with it. Tents were too airy, as we knew the work would 
continue until freezing weather, and perhaps well into the 
winter. We "passed" on the "dugout." The ideal was 
something that would be of use after the work of clearing 
was completed, and for that purpose we decided upon " con- 
demned" freight cars. They cost but ten dollars each, the 
railroad being glad to get rid of them. We bought two, 
ultimately using one for a chicken house and the other as a 
barn. In the meantime it was decided to remove the stumps 
by dynamite, as trying to yank them out by stump pullers 



186 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

or by mattock and plow was both slow and brutal. The 
ordinary custom of allowing nature to work six years at the 
stumps and gradually eliminate them by decay was not to 
be thought of. 

Dynamiter Kissam, a Long Island expert, arrived and 
set to work, using fuses for small stumps up to two feet in 
diameter. 

With the advent of the Italians work began in earnest; 
they cleared out every useless tree, cutting cord wood where 
any could be obtained and burning the branches and charred 
trees as they went. They also cleared out all underbrush 
thoroughly. 

The dynamiter with his helper followed them up. This 
is the most exciting and interesting part of clearing land by 
modern methods. 

The dynamite is put up in half-pound sticks. They are 
a little larger than an ordinary candle and are wrapped in 
heavy yellow paraflBned paper. One folded end of this 
paper is opened up and a hole made by a wooden skewer into 
the dynamite stick, which is plastic and resembles graham 
bread in color and consistency. 

For magneto-battery work where several charges are re- 
quired, a copper cap in which is a minute quantity of ful- 
minate of mercury, and which is exploded by a spark, is at- 
tached to fine electric wires and sealed by sulphur. This 
cap is placed in holes in the sticks of dynamite, and then 
securely tied by drawing string tightly around the paper 
which is raised to admit the cap. 

In preparing a charge for fuse ignition, the cap is crimped 
to the end of a piece of mining fuse and this is inserted 
in the dynamite stick and securely fastened as previously 
described. 



CLEARING THE LAND 187 

These prepared charges are placed in a basket and carried 
very tenderly to the stumps which have been prepared by 
the dynamiter's assistant. All the work is handled very 
carefully, for while there is not much danger of an accident 
unless fire is placed near the explosive, nevertheless ex- 
treme caution is used at all times. It requires a nature 
serene, calm, and deliberate. 

Deep oblique holes were then made with a round crowbar 
under the stump singled out for execution. This hole should 
be as nearly horizontal as possible and directly under the 
stump so that all the explosive force may be expended 
on the wood and not on the earth between the dynamite 
and the stump. The earth acts as a cushion and the natu- 
ral tendency of dynamite to exert force downward is coun- 
teracted. 

As soon as a small strip was blown, the Italians, gathering 
up all the stumps, roots, and fragments, removing any pieces 
that were loosened but not completely torn out, and piling 
them at intervals, immediately burned them. This cannot 
be done when stumps are removed by any other method, for 
by the digging process the earth must be picked and scraped 
from them and ultimately the stump hacked in pieces before 
it will burn. 

By our method the stump is burned and the finest kind of 
unleached wood ashes — containing lime to "sweeten" and 
potash and phosphoric acid to furnish plant food — are 
spread upon the ground a few hours after the stumps are 
blown out. These ashes would under other circumstances 
have to be purchased at a cost of perhaps two dollars a 
barrel, and as five barrels at least to the acre are required 
for good fertilization, these ashes gave us the first credit 
upon the books. 



188 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Following the burners came the manure spreaders; five 
carloads of manure had been purchased and was delivered 
before it was needed. When the manure was spread upon 
the land (one half carload to the acre), the plow started its 
work smoothly and with none of the strain and jerk on man 
and beast usual in new land. The soil was turned over 
with the greatest ease, for the explosions had shivered and 
torn out even the smallest roots, so the plow ran through 
the ground much more easily than in sod land. 

Our friable, sandy loam, with a light admixture of clay, 
pulverized and aerated by the explosions, was in market 
garden condition at once and without the year's loss of 
crops assured by old methods. 

A tooth harrow was next run over the plowed section, 
and gleaners followed the harrow, picking up the fine roots 
as they were brought to the surface. As piles of these fine 
roots grew, they were burned and the ashes immediately 
spread upon the land. The tooth harrow was run again 
across the rows, the disk harrow following chopped and pul- 
verized the earth into the finest possible condition. Thirty- 
five and one half working days after Larry and his gang 
arrived, rye was drilled into three and one half acres. 

The condemned freight cars were placed upon skids and 
drawn to the desired position over soaped planks. They 
were raised from the ground to give good under ventilation. 
The north and east sides are filled or banked up with sand 
which came out of the well. This keeps out the cold winds, 
and, in the case of the chicken-house car, allows the fowls a 
shaded shelter on hot summer days. 

The chicken-house car was placed facing the southeast. 
The western end has a large glazed sash placed on it, and 
two in the southern side. One half the car was partitioned 



CLEARING THE LAND 189 

off for roosting quarters, while the other half serves as a 
laying and scratching house. This farm keeps only a few 
chickens for family use. 

The artesian well was started in October. The well was, 
naturally, a necessity, but there was much to be considered 
in regard to the method of pumping. Under ordinary cir- 
cumstances a windmill would do, and is generally a good 
auxiliary; a ten-foot iron tower and a ten-foot fan wheel 
cost about fifty dollars, but our farm is not to be allowed to 
be a failure for lack of water in a dry season. In case of 
drought (and every summer brings one of greater or less 
duration) water must be on hand, and as a drought usually 
is accompanied by windless weather, the windmill could not 
be depended upon. An engine was obviously necessary. 
Both gasoline and kerosene engines were closely investi- 
gated, with the result that a kerosene oil engine was decided 
upon. (The new style of heavy oil engine is better and 
cheaper to run. Ed.) An advantage of the engine over a 
windmill is that it will furnish power for cutting wood, 
grinding grain, or lighting the buildings, a two and one- 
half horsepower engine running twenty-five 16 c.p. lights 
easily. 

The rye was turned under green in the spring to furnish 
humus, the greatest and only vital need of this particular 
spot of virgin soil. 

Since that was written an excellent and cheap stump 
puller has been introduced, but the account of work is 
still typical. Dynamiting is still the modern way to clear 
land as well as to break up a stiff subsoil or hardpan, so as 
to loosen the earth to let deep roots like trees or alfalfa go 
down and to secure drainage. 

Primitive American man regarded trees as "lumber" in- 



190 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

stead of as timber and still destroys countless millions in 
valuable wood as he "clears the ground." 

After it is cleared, it is vital to keep it cleared of weeds, 
which are worse garroters of crops than trees. To do that 
we don't need to bow to the Earth, nor to hammer her with 
a hand hoe. 

"The Man with the Hoe" began to be a back number 
when Arkwright invented the ark or the mule or whatever 
he did invent. The man with the wheel hoe is the man that 
is " It." A wheel hoe costs from $6 to $12, and will do the 
work of several men without breaking the heart or even 
the back of one of them. It has as many attachments as a 
summer girl and is equally versatile. It must be run be- 
tween the rows as soon as the ground is dry after every 
rain, so as to slay the weeds before they are born. If you 
don't they will slay your profits, if not yourself. 

Crops grown on that experimental farm are : Asparagus, 
berries, beans, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots, 
cucumbers, corn, eggplant, endive, fruit trees, kale, kohl- 
rabi, lettuce, limas, melons, martynias, onions, okra, parsley, 
parsnips, peas, potatoes (sweet and white), pumpkins, 
radishes, rhubarb, salsify, squash, tomatoes, etc. Marketed 
strictly choice radishes May 18, peas June 10, lettuce 
June 21, beans June 29, beets July 8, carrots July 10, 
cabbage July 11. Surely a rapid result. 

Hemp is hardly worth your growing for itself under ordi- 
nary circumstances ; the returns per acre are not sufficient. 
But Charles Richard Dodge, in one of the United States 
Yearbooks of the Department of Agriculture, says that as 
a weed killer it has practically no equal. 

In proof of this, a North River farmer stated that thistles 
heretofore had mastered him in a certain field, but after 



CLEARING THE LAND 191 

sowing it with hemp not a thistle survived; and while 
ridding the land of this pest, the hemp yielded him nearly 
sixty dollars an acre, where previously nothing valuable 
could be produced. 

As it grows from Minnesota to the Mississippi Delta, its 
value for this purpose is considerable. 

But there is a way easier and cheaper of clearing land 
than by blasting, if we can afford to wait a little ; and Mr. 
George Fayette Thompson, in Bulletin No. 27, Bureau of 
Animal Industry, tells us how, giving some interesting facts 
about Angora goats, of which the following is a condensation : 

To people taking up raw land, particularly where there is 
a heavy undergrowth to be cleared away, goats of some 
kind are an invaluable aid. In its browsing qualities the 
common goat is as good as any, but, aside from the clearing 
of the land, the profit in his keep is very little, though some 
demand is growing up for goat's milk for infants and for 
some fancy cheeses. A much better animal from the stand- 
point of profit, while in use as a scavenger, is the Angora 
goat. Their long, silky hair has been used for centuries in 
making blankets, lap robes, rugs, carpets, and particularly 
the "cashmere" shawls, formerly a great luxury in this 
country. Much of the camel's hair dress goods is in reality 
made from the hair of the Angora goat, or mohair, as it is 
called. Angora goats thrive best in high altitudes with dry 
climates. They exist in greatest number in the United States 
in California, New Mexico, and Texas. They have been 
used successfully in the Willamette Valley of Oregon to eat 
the underbrush off the land, doing for nothing that for 
which the farmers pay Chinese laborers twenty-five to forty 
dollars per acre. The cost of Angora goats is about ten to 
thirty dollars each for does, with bucks at fifty to two hun- 



192 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

dred dollars, so that even with a small area of land to clear 
it would pay to buy a little flock for that purpose. Dr. 
Shandley, of Iowa, says that two to three goats to the acre 
is sufficient for cleaning up land, and that in two years the 
goats will eat all of the underbrush from woodland, such as 
briers, thistles, scrub oak, sumac, and, in fact, any shrub 
undergrowth. They need no other food than what they can 
secure from the woods themselves. Consequently, the in- 
come from the sale of mohair is nearly net. 

The more nearly thoroughbred the goats are, the better 
the mohair and the higher the price. The meat of the An- 
gora goat is superior to mutton, although if sold in the market 
under the name of goat meat, it commands only half the price 
of mutton. 

As an example of the Angora's utility in cleaning up land, 
the Country Gentleman says : " Mr. Landrum exhibited ten 
head at the Oregon State Fair. In order to demonstrate 
their effectiveness as substitutes for grubbing, he left them 
on three acres of brush. At the end of the second year the 
land was mellow and ready for the plow." 

It might be possible to build up a business in clearing lands 
for others by means of a herd of Angoras. 



CHAPTER XIX 

HOW TO BUILD 

If you find an "abandoned farm'' on which the buildings 
are worth more than the whole price asked, as frequently 
happens, you are all right. Even if the buildings are some- 
what dilapidated, you can fix them up for a few dollars. 
But in buying small plots of ground, larger farms have to 
be broken up. If you buy from the resident owner, he may 
sell you five acres off his larger tract, and keep his house 
to live in. Certain it is that if a farm of 100 acres is sub- 
divided into twenty five-acre farms, at least nineteen new 
houses must be built, although sometimes an old barn can 
be made into a fair residence. 

If you can do no better, it is possible to start by tenting. 

An outfit large enough for a family of six would be about as 

follows : 

1 wall tent with fly, 10 X 14, for sleeping 
1 wall tent with fly, 10 X 14, for dining 

1 old cook stove (to be erected outdoors) 

2 floors, 10 X 14, at $5 each 

Brown tents, at least for the sleeping rooms, are best; 
they last longer, are cooler, and do not attract the flies; 
though indeed we need not have house flies if we keep the 
horse manure covered up — they are all bred in that. If 
the tents are in the shade, the cost of the cover or fly can 
be saved in the dining tent ; but it is necessary in the living 
tent, because wet canvas will leak when touched on the inside, 
o 193 



194 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

To make the tent warm for the winter, we must bank up 
to the edges of the platform with earth and cover the whole 
with another tent of the same shape, but a foot larger in 
every dimension. These are commonly used in Montana. 

It is to be presumed that no one would attempt moving 
in without household utensils, which may be as simple or 
elaborate as you please. If there is a sawmill in the vicinity, 
a temporary shack for winter, say 22 X 30 feet, could be built 
for from $400 to $600, depending on the interior finish. 
Partitions can be made very cheap by erecting panels covered 
with canvas, burlap, old carpet, etc. Such a building does 
not need to be plastered, but can be made warm enough by 
an inside covering of burlap, heavy builders' paper, or com- 
position board. Tar paper laid over solid sheeting makes a 
roof that will last for two or three years. For such a shack 
draw the plans yourself. All you really need is a living 
room, bedroom, and kitchen. 

A cheap and effective water supply can be gotten from a 
driven well, which in most places costs about one dollar per 
foot. Have it where the kitchen is to be, so that the water 
can be pumped into a barrel or other tank over the stove. 
With a good range you can have as good a supply of hot and 
cold water as you had in the city. 

If so fortunate as to find a piece of land with a good spring 
on it, you can lay pipes and draw the water from that. If 
you can get twelve or fifteen feet fall from the spring to the 
kitchen, you don't need a pump at all. 

For a toilet closet, build a shed four feet wide, six feet 
long, and eight feet high. Use a movable pail or box. Lime 
slaked or unslaked or dry dust or ashes must be scattered 
every time the closet is used. Always clean before it shows 
signs of becoming offensive : keep it covered fly tight and 



HOW TO BUILD 195 

mix the contents with earth or litter, and scatter on the 
garden. 

A shack can be built of logs which will do for comfort and 
will look dignified. 

Horace L. Pike, in Country Life in America, says: "The 
lot on which we meant to build our log house stood thirty- 
five feet above the lake. The problem was how to build a 
cabin roomy, picturesque, inexpensive, and all on the ground. 

" The ground dimensions are thirty-two by thirty feet out- 
side. This gives a living room sixteen by fourteen; bed- 
rooms twelve by twelve, twelve by ten, and nine by seven ; 
kitchen eleven by nine; a five- by four-foot corner for a 
pantry and refrigerator ; closet four by six, front porch six- 
teen by six feet six inches, and rear porch five by five — 705 
square feet of inside floor space and 130 square feet of porch. 

"A dozen pine trees stand on the lot, and maneuvering 
was required to set a cottage among them without the crime 
of cutting one. The front received the salutes of a leaning 
oak, the life of which was saved by the sacrifice of six inches 
from the porch eaves, the trunk forming a newel post for the 
step railing. 

"We closed the contract immediately for 120 Norway 
or red pine logs, thirty feet long and eight by ten inches 
diameter at butts. The price was low — one or two dollars 
their like should have brought. We used, however, only 
eighty-one logs; forty thirty-foot, fourteen eighteen-foot, 
thirteen sixteen-foot, and fourteen fourteen-foot. 

"Work was begun on April 22. Two days suflficed for 
the owner and one man to clear and level the ground, dig 
post holes, set posts, and square the foundation. The soil 
was light sand with a clay hardpan three feet down. 

"Twenty-seven days each were put in by two men from 



196 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

start to finish, with assistance rendered by the owner. There 
were seven days by the mason, eight by carpenters, and four- 
teen and one half by other labor. On June 4 the cabin 
was ready for occupancy, and the family moved in. The 
prices, as in most cases cited, are higher to-day. Cheaper 
transportation or lower tariff may reduce them again. 

"Making allowances for increased cost of logs and differ- 
ences in any of the material cost, this cabin can be duplicated 
for less than $700 by any one who has the ground, a few tools, 
and some building ability. It is compact, convenient, and 
more roomy than a superficial glance reveals, and it can be 
occupied (slight care is required) from April to November 
with only the kitchen stove and the fireplace supplying the 
heat. The same plan can be used for an all-frame struc- 
ture, perhaps at less cost. It could be sheathed and slab 
covered in a locality where slabs, edged to six or eight inches 
wide, could be had ; or slabs could be used perpendicularly 
in the gable ends and on the outside of the rear extension." 

We must not overlook the differences in cost of lumber 
and labor in different places, sometimes more than doubling, 
nor the fact that different contractors will vary often twenty- 
five per cent in their bids. 

A mere cabin, like a wooden tent, 12 X 10 with a plat- 
form adjoining, will accommodate one or even two persons 
and can be built by a contractor even at war prices for 
about fifty to one hundred dollars. This will serve for a 
tool house or storeroom when a more convenient residence 
can be afforded. A number of such can be seen at "Free 
Acres," New Jersey, an hour from New York City on the 
D. L. & W. Railroad. 

Thoughtful provision and planning will go far to reduce 
costs. A stove pipe which should run up inside the house, 



HOW TO BUILD 197 

not outside, so as to conserve heat and fuel, serves as chimney 
and fireplace. A Franklin stove, practically an open fire- 
place set out entirely inside the house, is a practical device, 
though it costs from $18 to $30. It gives a cheerful open 
fire to burn wood or coal and has a flat top to keep things 
hot, a dutch oven of sheet iron, and a hob can be attached 
to the front of the grate. 

But remember that though you may have trees or fallen 
wood for the cutting it takes a lot of time to cut it. A 
cylindrical self-feeding coal burner is most economical for 
heating and a lined sheet iron cooking stove for the kitchen. 

A fireless cooker, which retains the heat all day by means 
of soapstone or insulation and slowly cooks the food without 
losing the juices, is an economical device. It can be made 
at home by copying what you see in the stores or by getting 
directions from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Don't forget double windows at least toward the north; 
and on all windows have heavy holland shades which make 
an air space between the cold windowpanes and the atmos- 
phere of the room. 

Portable houses sound attractive, but they do not pay 
unless you will need to move them. Manifestly it costs 
more to make a house like a trunk than like a shed. The 
houses shipped ready made of the "Aladdin" type, with all 
the parts ready marked to be nailed together by unskilled 
labor are a much better investment and are not shaky. 

It is true that living is expensive in the train suburbs, 
when almost all that is eaten comes from the city, with 
freight and monopoly rates added. But one can raise most 
of what the family eats, and save besides in car fares and 
doctor's bills. 

The rent, perhaps a quarter of the income, that was paid 



198 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

for a place so small that the cat had to jump on a chair when 
the baby sat down, will be a clear gain. 

Mrs. Warrington's cottage at Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, 
forms a very interesting subject, and is built from designs 
of well-known architects of Philadelphia, who have taken up 
building small, inexpensive modern houses in a practical 
manner. The house is built with a stone foundation and 
a wooden superstructure with exterior walls covered with 
metal lath and cement stucco which is stained a cream color. 
The trimmings are stained a soft brown and the sashes are 
painted white. The roof is covered with shingles, and is 
left to weather finish. The front porch, from which a ves- 
tibule leads into the house, has a hooded cover formed by 
the main roof sweeping down sufiiciently to form a protec- 
tion. The vestibule forms an entrance to both the living 
room and the kitchen ; the kitchen is at the front of the house, 
allowing the main rooms and a private porch to be at the 
south side. The interior throughout is trimmed with cypress 
and stained a soft brown. The second floor joists are ex- 
posed to view and are stained in a similar manner, while ,the 
ceiling space between the joists is plastered. A broad 
archway separates the living and the dining rooms, and while 
it forms a separation, it does not preclude the possibility, 
when desired, of throwing the two rooms into one large 
apartment. The large, open fireplace is built of clinker 
brick, and its facings extend from the floor to the ceiling; 
it has a wooden shelf supported on corbeled brackets. A 
semi-boxed stairway rises out of the living room to the second 
floor. There are three bedrooms with good-sized closets, 
and a bathroom on the second floor. A cellar, under the 
entire house, has a cemented bottom, and contains a laun- 
dry. This house costs about S2000 complete. 



HOW TO BUILD 199 

Houses built of cement blocks are growing in favor. 
Cement blocks can be made anywhere by unskilled labor. 
All that is needed is a competent foreman to direct the mak- 
ing and seasoning of the blocks and laying them in the walls. 

The cost of concrete compared to frame or brick structures 
is, if anything, all things considered, in favor of concrete. 
Houses built of wood are likely to become increasingly ex- 
pensive because of the deforesting which is going on in all 
parts of the United States. 

There are abundant books of plans and costs published, 
showing what may be built, and several responsible publishers 
recklessly offer to refund the cost of the plans if the expense 
of building the house exceeds their estimates. 

There are also a number of manufacturers of ready-made 
portable houses, running in cost from about three hundred 
dollars for four rooms, upward. Some of these are adapted 
to all-the-year-round use and may be used where land is taken 
experimentally. 



CHAPTER XX 

BACK TO THE LAND 

"Life, to the average man, means hard, anxious work, 
with disappointment at the end, whereas it ought to mean 
plenty of time for books and talk. There is something 
wrong about a system which condemns ninety-nine hun- 
dredths of the race to an existence as bare of intellectual 
activity and enjoyment as that of a horse, and with the added 
anxiety concerning the next month's rent. Is there no 
escape? Through years of hard toil I suspected that there 
might be such an escape. Now, having escaped, I am sure 
of it, so long as oatmeal is less expensive than flour, so long 
as the fish bite, and the cabbage grows, I shall keep out of 
the slavery of modern city existence, and live in God's sun- 
shine." (Hubert, "Liberty and a Living.") 

The wealthy class are taking up farming as a healthy and 
beautifying diversion, and we may expect others to follow, 
as it certainly promotes happiness and adds to the attractions 
of those who adopt it. With the aids which science has 
given, a farmer can now make good profits with less labor 
than was formerly necessary to get a bare living. The 
amount that a single well-managed, well-tilled acre will pro- 
duce in a season is simply incredible. This accounts for the 
increased demand for farming lands wherever they are to be 
had on reasonable terms. The wage earners are learning 

200 



BACK TO THE LAND 201 

this, and it is only a question of a little time when manu- 
facturing plants will have to be convenient to lands where 
the families of the hands can have a small tract of land to 
cultivate. This requires good transportation facilities from 
the homes to the factories. 

Corporate operation has been a great aid to human prog- 
ress. Organization is man's orderly way of following the 
Divine Plan for his economic salvation, yet the farmer has 
profited less by organization than trades unions. Where 
farmers have organized to aid each other to buy and sell, 
they have gained wonderfully, but a beginning in this direc- 
tion has but served to show how much more is needed. 

To the individual farmer with large area and small means, 
the improvements in machinery that cheapen his produc- 
tion are not at present available. The discoveries in methods 
of fertilization of the soil only make it more difficult for him 
to earn a living in competition with those whose ample 
capital increases production by its use. Improvements in 
fruits and vegetation, by hybridization and various methods 
that add w^ealth to those of means, only add to the troubles 
of our present small farmers. 

Hitherto corporate operation has been mainly for the 
benefit of stockholders. The cases where those whose labor 
creates dividends get more than wages have been rare. " A 
living wage" has been the ambition of labor itself : all profit 
beyond this is supposed to be the right of capital. There is 
with some persons an unconscious reluctance to share profits 
with labor lest the laborers become independent, and thus 
reduce their number to an extent to raise the labor market, 
so that it is difficult to get fair consideration of any business 
proposition that promises better conditions for the producer 
or independence for the laborer. This is undoubtedly short- 



202 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

sighted, as the higher intelligence of the people who have 
land increases production and gives enlarged opportunities 
for the profitable employment of money. However, if capi- 
talists persist in this narrow view, the money of the people, 
when they learn and think, can be applied to this purpose, 
instead of being deposited in savings banks, where much of 
it is used in increasing the wealth of those who already have 
abundance. 

The idea of "helping others to help themselves" finds a 
responsive chord in the hearts of many wealthy people. 
But the question is, how can all be helped? No business 
method by which this can be accomplished has, as yet, been 
practically demonstrated. 

In no field does corporate operation promise more for the 
betterment of human conditions, for a higher standard of 
morals and of education, or great certainty of profit for capi- 
tal, than by systematically aiding men to obtain farms. 

Progress proceeds on the line of returns for expenditure. 
When a man's economic condition permits, his first thought 
is to give his children an education and a better chance in 
life than he had. Those who extol the simple life as the ideal 
condition of happiness do not mean that want and depriva- 
tion of necessities is the ideal condition. If they did, they 
would put their children in that condition to make them 
happy. Both extremes of wealth and of poverty are burdens 
and retard mental and moral progress. The ideal condition 
is to be found on a farm where the land is paid for and ample 
means are at hand to supply the necessities for physical 
demands, with leisure to learn and enjoy those pleasures of 
the mind which come with knowledge of Nature's laws, and 
wisdom to live in harmony with them, and in a measure 
comprehend the purposes of creation. 



BACK TO THE LAND 203 

Mr. G. W. Smith, founder of the Hundred Year Club, 
suggests that there is an opening in intensive farming for 
the benevolent but canny wealthy who are interested in the 
soil and want to combine philanthropy and percentage. 

His plan is to get capital to secure land and all the neces- 
sary means, give to each approved applicant perpetual leases 
of land for a small farm and a lot in a village site convenient 
thereto, with a house merely sufficient for shelter, requiring 
as a first payment sufficient to secure capital against loss in 
case the farmer forfeits his contract, say $100. Let the 
company provide scientific supervision and conduct the 
operation mainly as though the farmers were employees, all 
the necessaries to be charged to each with only sufficient 
profit to pay the expense and a fair interest on the capital 
employed. Through a purchasing and sales department all 
products should be sold in the best market and each farmer 
credited with the net result of his productions until the agreed 
sale price is received, when title should pass in fee to the 
farmer, who, during the time, has become scientific so far as 
that piece of land is concerned, and in future can operate it 
with the advantages which progress has made. A public 
building would be necessary for a storehouse, in which rooms 
for meetings of various kinds should be provided, also such 
shelter as might be necessary for assembling and storage of 
products for shipment. 

The expense of public buildings and other utilities could 
be paid for out of the increased value that they bring to the 
land. The company should have a nursery to provide fruit 
trees, etc., the growth of which, with the increase of popu- 
lation, would make the farms, when paid for, worth far 
more than their cost. Such opportunities as this, opened 
to all, would do away with the tramps who are now able to 



204 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

live on the charitable, only because of the known difficulties 
of finding work. 

The farmers should be utilized as far as possible in the 
purchasing and sales department, and should divide into 
committees to try various experiments connected with their 
business, that through their reports all may be benefited 
by the knowledge gained. Dairying and large orchards on 
land suitable and not of use in the general farming plan could 
be conducted by the community, each farmer being a stock- 
holder. The labor performed on these cooperative under- 
takings should be paid for and charged to cost of production, 
each one who performs a share of the labor participating in 
the profits as near as may be. As money is received by the 
company from products, it can be used in similar operations. 
When the farms are paid for, the farmers can continue the 
cooperative features that experience has proved useful and 
extend the business principle to other fields, such as heating, 
light, and power by electricity, machinery for preparing prod- 
ucts for market, drying, canning, etc., as well as for the culti- 
vation of the soil. 

Where the land is level the farms can be laid out on a 
general plan that will admit of the use of steam plows to 
reduce the cost of plowing, save hard labor, and reduce the 
number of work animals. 

Among the multitude of advantages the individual would 
have in these communities, social, educational, and economic, 
health and physical development appear as not the least. 

The farm, as it is, still furnishes a horde of recruits for 
insane asylums ; its isolation and monotony of everyday life, 
with its lack of sodal intercourse and educational advantages, 
nearly counterbalance the strain and poverty of the cities. 

But the greatest difficulty is the growing inability of the 



BACK TO THE LAND 205 

farmers' sons to secure land and the means to cultivate it 
when they arrive at a marriageable age. Those who have 
seen for threescore years the ever-increasing flow of boys 
and girls from the farms to the cities, greater in proportion 
to the rural population than in any other age, realize the 
necessity for aid in this direction. While it is true that the 
farm has contributed largely to the numbers of our success- 
ful city men, the fact remains that the mass of boys who 
come to the cities as well as the city born, lack the faculty 
to grab or save, and fail, while the healthy girls swell the 
ranks of prostitution, where an average of eight years lands 
them in a pauper's grave. 

Our soldiers, as well as those of other countries, are not 
up to former physical standards. Degeneracy, disintegration 
is apparent in every direction. 

The power of a nation depends on the physical and mental 
condition of the great mass of people, and to leave the people 
in ignorance that they may be controlled by the intelligent 
few who understand their needs and may have their welfare at 
heart, is a mistake that other nations than Russia have made. 
The law of the survival of the fittest has wiped out races 
and nations who have ignored this fundamental law, that 
all men must progress together. 

A race or civilization with such a basis of farmers as this 
plan would create would be enduring. 

The nation or race, like the individual, must have intelli- 
gent organization and live in harmony with the laws of 
nature in order to survive. Opposition to them means 
destruction. Cooperation is constructive. 

If we are to profit by this lesson, it is necessary that we 
improve the conditions surrounding our lower classes. That 
this is recognized by a large number of leading minds is 



206 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

proved by the efforts of the many who are engaged in edu- 
cational and other social movements, most of which result 
in little net good to the wage-earners. 

Obstacles to small farming near large cities are that farms 
of three to ten acres with buildings are not plentiful, and 
that mortgage loans are hard to get in the East and loans 
to help in building are hardly to be had at all. 

Land is either held intact as large farms or is sold entire 
to speculators who hold it until it can be divided into city 
lots. Here, it would seem, is an opportunity for those who 
are interested in bettering the condition of their fellow men 
by wholesale, and can invest large capital, but little time, in 
the work. 

Let them buy up land in large acreages and cut it up into 
small plots of from one to ten acres, charging enough ad- 
vance to return interest on the money invested and to meet 
the necessary expenses in such operation. Then make liberal 
building loans to buyers. Inquiries among real estate men 
show that they always have a larger demand for small acre- 
age than they can meet, so an immediate market with 
large profits would await those who are first in this field. 

There is no use in blaming people for not leaving the cities 
to go to the farms; they don't know enough to go, they 
don't know enough to make a living if they do go, and they 
don't know enough to enjoy it. Besides this, they have not 
the capital. We must teach them and help them. 

George H. Maxwell's Homecrofters' Guild at Watertown, 
Mass., where boys are taught what to do with the earth and 
how to do it, is worth whole shelves of books on " The Exodus 
to the Cities" or the "Prosperity of the Settler." 

It is reported that the state of Texas offered six million 
acres of land for sale to settlers, at one dollar per acre. It 



BACK TO THE LAND 207 

has been suggested that it would be better that the states 
should rent out the land at four per cent of the sale price. 
This would leave more money in the hands of settlers and 
enable many to get farms who cannot pay the price and have 
enough left to raise a crop. In reality it would be better for 
the state to help farmers get a start rather than to tax them 
one dollar per acre to begin with. However, under our 
system of government, we permit only those who have 
money to have land. 

There can be no doubt that the state of Texas and her 
people would be better off if the land were leased than to 
have it sold. Probably a tax on the value of the land 
instead of a rent would be the best for all the people, especially 
as it would check speculation. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 

In order that as little as possible may seem to be taken 
for granted or as mere expressions of the opinions of the 
author, we cite the views of specialists as to the possibilities 
of this field, so new in this country, of intensive agriculture. 

These will show that the conviction has become general 
that, as workers, as teachers, and as discoverers, there is no 
career more inviting or more lucrative or more dignified 
than that of the skillful foster-father of plants. 

"Children brought up in city tenements tend to become 
vicious and sickly, but if transported to country homes they 
may grow up strong and self-respecting men and women. 

"There are hundreds of applicants for every position in 
the cities, and competition forces the pay down to the lowest 
level. Living expenses are heavier. The risk to health 
from sedentary occupations, long hours in ill-ventilated 
offices, stores, and workshops is serious. 

"There are few inducements to out-door exercise. Even 
if he lives at home, the boy who is forced to the street or into 
the factory before he has the strength or education to do good 
work remains an unskilled worker all his life. 

"Manufacturing is upon a larger and larger scale. The 
division of labor is greater and greater. Not only does the 
gulf between capitalist and laborer widen, but with it the 
gulf between skilled and unskilled labor.'* ("What Shall 
Our Boys Do for a Living?" Charles F. Wingate.) 

208 



THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 209 

It is the city that breeds or attracts most of the pauperism 
and crime. The country has its own healthy life. 

Every one is born with some natural gift, and it is a good 
thing to discover early in life what one's natural gifts are so 
that each may be educated in the direction suited to natural 
capacity. 

How are you to treat a lad who has naturally an inclination 
for the work on the farm ? In the first place do not provide 
him with any spending money unless he earns it. The prime 
thing necessary is to give the boy a personal interest in what 
is going on upon the farm. Give him a plot of land as his 
own, let him understand that anything he may grow upon 
this land shall belong to him, but do not give him this plot 
and say, "There, take that; do as you like with it,'' he will 
wonder what to do with it. He will need somebody to help 
him by teaching him what he is to do. Enter into a partner- 
ship with him at the start, give him some instruction as to 
what it is best for him to do with his plot. Find out his in- 
clinations; give him sympathy and help. Bring out his 
natural aptitude for farming life, teach him method in his 
work ; teach him to think his way out ; and, best of all, teach 
him to work for definite results ; that is what is wanted in 
any line of life, especially in farm life. 

Let the work of the boy have a meaning and a purpose. 
Let him understand that certain results cannot be accom- 
plished in any other way, and give him chances to go outside 
and see what other people are doing. Let him see good 
scientific agriculture and be encouraged to pursue such 
methods. 

Provide for him the very best reading that can be found in 
agricultural journals and books. Let him have three or 
four years at an agricultural college. All the influences 



210 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

there point to agriculture as the best calling for a young 
man who is fit for it, whereas in other colleges the influences 
are all in the opposite direction. At our agricultural colleges 
a youth has all the necessary advantages of general education, 
and also an education in the lines fitting him especially for 
the calling he has selected. (United States Department of 
Agriculture, Bulletin 138, condensed.) 

"Among farmers and gardeners not enough thought is 
given to the whys and wherefores, or cause and effect; as 
a rule, they go on year after year without profiting by the 
personal opportunity afforded them of observation, or by 
the results of experiments at scientific stations. 

"With rare exceptions the young farmer and gardener 
takes up his work, not from the scientific side, but strictly 
from the labor side ; and he begins at the bottom, meeting 
the same difficulties as did his father and too often not ac- 
quiring information beyond what his father possessed. 

" This should not be ; agriculture should be taught in all 
our public schools in country districts, as it has been taught 
for years in Germany and Austria. It should be elevated 
as an art; in its higher estate it is already an art. No 
pursuit possesses a greater scope for development ; the field 
is almost unoccupied by leaders, scientific and practical." 
(Burnet Landreth, in 999 Queries and Answers.) 

In accordance with these ideas, the Baron de Hirsch Agri- 
cultural School at Woodbine, New Jersey, is giving practical 
courses in agriculture to Jewish boys, on the principle of 
individual plots — all free where necessary. 

The trustees of the State Agricultural College of New 
Jersey, at New Brunswick, have established winter courses 
in agriculture, open to all residents of New Jersey over 
sixteen years of age. Courses will be for twelve weeks, and, 



THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 211 

only a small entrance fee is required; few books will be 
needed. 

Other states are doing likewise; all will need many 
teachers and experimenters. At present all who know any- 
thing about intensive agriculture are snapped up by the 
numerous government experiment stations at good salaries. 
The land like that of the Rockefellers, the Paynes, the 
Cuttings, on which farming is carried on by unnecessarily 
expensive methods, needs the services of trained agriculturists 
and professional foresters. The Division of Forestry at 
the start employed eleven persons, but now it has in the field 
as many hundreds of employees, including a lot of trained 
foresters. 

The railroads also see the profit in teaching farming, and 
are devoting more and more money to experiments and lec- 
tures to show the farmers that they can get more and better 
crops with the same effort by intelligent selection of seeds. 

The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railway Company 
ran its first Seed and Soil Special over the entire system in 
the winter of 1904-1905, and has lectured to hundreds of 
thousands of farmers since. 

They report to us that " there is no doubt that the lectures 
did a great deal of good, and necessarily the larger increase 
of crops which followed is due to the scientific methods of 
farming expounded by the various professors." The late 
President James J. Hill wrote much about the small farms' 
large yields. 

The hundreds of thousands of "war gardens" unskillfully 
conducted and glutting the local markets with crops all 
matured at about the same local time will unreasonably 
disgust many with intensive cultivation, especially those who 
work but do not think. The remedy is more instruction. 



212 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

The effect of the agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations is plain to the eye in the better appearance of farms 
as we near the centers of instruction. 

Some years ago a clergyman published a book upon the 
Adirondacks ; it was full of poetry, and he sent men up there 
who afterwards became known as "Murray's Fools." They 
knew nothing about the life and had no suitability and little 
preparation for it. We do not wish to bring out a crop of 
"Three Acres and Liberty Fools." We are telling what has 
been done and what can be done again. It does not follow 
that every man can or will do it, much less teach it or ad- 
vance the art, but the field is a large one and holds out great 
promise to those who persevere and excel in it. 

If any one thinks that the profit of the earth will come to 
the cultivator without very intelligent and steady work, he 
is mistaken. No owner of land, unless others require it to 
live upon, can make money by neglecting it. 

Says MaxicelVs Talisman: "The greatest good that can 
be done to the American farmer to-day is to teach him to 
make the greatest possible profit from the smallest tract of 
land from which a family can be supported in comfort. A 
great influence operating to-day against keeping the boys 
in the country is that the boy does not have money enough 
to buy a farm. It is unfortunately true that in some places 
there is a trend in the direction of absorbing farms into still 
larger farms with a consequent diminution of population, 
as in Iowa and other sections. The remedy for this is to 
demonstrate that if the value is in the boy rather than in the 
farm, and the boy is taught intensive, diversified, scientific 
farming, a good living with a surplus profit that will provide 
amply for old age, may be made from a comparatively small 
tract of land. The tract may be, say, ten acres, with ample 



THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 213 

cultivation, irrigation, and fertilization, or even without irriga- 
tion, because a hoe and a cultivator in the hands of a scientific 
farmer may bring as good and better results in providing 
moisture for growing plants as can be had from a ditch and 
unlimited water in the hands of an ignorant farmer." 

The field of discovery is always limitless, and it is to those 
boys or girls who devote their attention to this that the great- 
est return will come. "What a fine thing it would be to 
find even one plant free from rust in the midst of a rusted 
field. It would mean a rust-resistant plant. Its off-spring 
would probably be also rust resistant. If you should ever 
find such a plant, be sure to save its seed and plant in a 
plot by itself. The next year again save seed from those 
plants least rusted. Possibly you can develop a rust proof 
race of wheat! Keep your eyes open." ("Agriculture for 
Beginners," by Burkett, Stevens, and Hill, pages 76-78.) 
So you may pluck gain out of loss. 

If you want to do experiments, the influence of ether on 
plants is one new and wonderful field. It seems to induce 
artificial rest, so that lilacs, for instance, can be made to 
bloom twice by a treatment, the last time near Christmas. 

E. V. Wilcox says in Farming that in 1899 a small quantity 
of durum or macaroni w^heat was introduced into this country 
for trial. It was found profitable in localities where there 
was too little rain for ordinary wheat. Six years later, 
20,000,000 bushels per year of the wheat was grown in the 
United States. Its production has increased greatly every 
season and has added materially to the total of the wheat 
crop. Thorough fall cultivation has been found to increase 
the yield, and in some parts of the wheat belt one in five of 
the farmers has already adopted the practice. In certain 
states where manuring has been thought unnecessary, ex- 



214 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

periments have demonstrated that the yield may be in- 
creased 60 per cent by this simple practice. The wheat 
production of Nebraska was increased more than 10,000,000 
bushels by the introduction of a hardy strain of Turkey 
red wheat. Swedish select oats in Wisconsin have greatly 
augmented the oat yield of the state. In 1899 six pounds 
of the seed was brought to the state and from this small 
beginning a crop of 9,000,000 bushels was harvested five 
years later. 

"Mr. Gideon, of Minnesota, planted many apple seeds, 
and from them all raised one tree that was very fruitful, finely 
flavored, and able to withstand the cold Minnesota winter. 
This tree he multiplied by grafts and named it the Wealthy 
apple. It is said that in this one apple he benefited the world 
to the value of more than one million dollars. You must not 
let any valuable bud or seed variant be lost." (" Agriculture 
for Beginners," page 61.) 

"This fact ought to be very helpful to us next year when 
planting corn. We should plant seed secured only from 
stalks that produced the most corn. If we follow this plan 
year by year, each acre of land will be made to produce more 
kernels and hence a larger crop of corn, and yet no more ex- 
pense will be required to raise the crop." (Same, page 71.) 

The World's Work tells how the country got a new industry. 

Mr. George Gibbs, of Clearbrook, Wash., has made his 
"stake" by growing tulip and hyacinth bulbs. He had a 
little place on Orcas Island, in Puget Sound. He did not 
know anything about growing flowers, but he did know that 
certain varieties of bulbs brought good prices in the East. 
He was observant enough to see that the moist, warm 
climate and rich soil of the Puget Sound country were 
peculiarly favorable to flowers. 



THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 215 

He had bad luck with his bulbs ; that only meant that he 
still had something to learn. He kept his nerve even when 
he went bankrupt. His friends told him he was wasting 
time, but they could not shake his faith. 

In twelve years he found that he was right. His wonderful 
gardens were making him rich. Other men have gone into 
the business, but he was first and has kept his lead. He has 
made the Puget Sound country the greatest rival of Holland 
in the sale of flowering bulbs. 

Quantities of wild herbs, fruits, and roots that no one eats 
are good ; the Jesuits had a list of over two hundred kinds 
that the Indians ate, but it was lost. Some one can do a 
great service by making it up again by research and experi- 
ment. Thousands more of the wild things must be good for 
dyes, fabrics, and fodder. 

Fame like Burbank's and fortune awaits the one who is a 
good self -advertiser and can find the use of the poetic daisies, 
goldenrod, and thistle, the all-pervading "pusley/' and such 
other vegetable vermin. 

An interesting experiment is conducted in growing tea 
with colored child labor, at Tea, South Carolina, by the 
aid of education and machinery and the cooperation of the 
Agricultural Department at Washington, who will furnish 
particulars. Whatever may be its outcome, this will give 
an opening to some intelligent cultivators, and it points the 
way to other fields. 

Those who are first in raising new or improved plants find 
a waiting market for them. 

The Market Groivers Gazette, of London, England, reports 
that Mr. A. Findlay, Mairsland, Auchtermuchty, Scotland, 
sold one season to five leading growers whose names are 
given, five seed potatoes at £ 20 each (which would be, per- 



216 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

haps, $500 a peck). He says enthusiastically: "It is as 
perfectly round -shaped a potato as can be imagined. There 
is a slight dash of pink on the outer rim of the eye. My stock 
of it is very small, only 126 lb., and I do not care to sell 
any. If next year's crop yields as well as this year's, we 
shall have twenty times that quantity." Mr. Findlay has 
other seed potatoes, just as high priced, for which he wants 
$125 per lb., which, he says, "means that I do not want to 
sell any." 

This shows what progressive people think of the real 
value of good seed. 

It is worth mentioning that " The land on which these are 
grown is not highly manured ; the only artificial manure that 
it has received is about 200 lb. of potash per acre. It has 
the drawback of being rather stony." 

Of course this is "a fad" ; it is doubtful if it will pay any 
one to give such prices for seed except to sell to some bigger 
fool than himself. Of course, also, the market for a particular 
fancy thing may soon be overstocked, but it seems to be a 
nice thing for the Findlays meanwhile, and it does good in 
teaching people to appreciate good things. 

Yet the average potato patcher prudently saves his small 
potatoes for next year's seed, which is just as if a breeder were 
to keep the colts that were too poor to sell, to be the parents 
of his herd. 

In the dark ages of farming — to wit, in 1881, for this is 
a true story — a minister of the Gospel came into possession, 
by inheritance, of a fifteen-acre farm a short way from Phila- 
delphia. He found the soil a reddish, somewhat gravelly 
clay, and so worn out from years of cropping that it did not 
support two cows and a horse. City born and bred, he was 
encumbered with no knowledge of agriculture which had to 



THE COMING PROFESSION FOR BOYS 217 

be unlearned. He began a careful and systematic study 
of the agricultural literature, and ultimately developed a 
novel system of dairy farming to which he adhered religiously. 

The farm lying near the city is high-priced land ; for this 
reason, and because of the limited acreage, the cows were kept 
in the barn the year round. For six years his bill for veteri- 
nary services was $1.50, while the income from the milk of 
his seventeen cows was about $2400 a year. In addition, 
from four to six head of young cattle were sold annually, 
netting about $500 a year. As the stock on the farm was 
stall fed every particle of plant food contained in the stable 
manure, liquid as well as solid, was utilized. No fertilizer 
was ever purchased. Yet all of the "roughage" for thirty 
head of stock was raised on the thirteen acres of available 
soil. Only $625 a year was expended for concentrated feed- 
ing stuffs. The net earnings of the farm for the period 
averaged more than $1000 a year. And this was during the 
early days of his experience ; later he made more. 

Professor W. J. Spillman, of the Agricultural Department, 
visited him in 1903, and studied the methods employed. 
Then, he says, the rush to see the farm became so great 
that the owner had to give it up. 

Few people who know nothing about it, and won't learn, 
can take even three acres and make anything off it. To get 
the phenomenal yields takes capital — sometimes large 
capital, wisely spent. Sometimes we read of immense prod- 
ucts "per acre"; this often means the product of a single 
rod of ground, this gives at the rate of so much "per acre," 
or might, if extended. 

But any one can take a little bit of ground and use it 
thoroughly and increase his borders and his knowledge as he 
goes on. He will find plenty to pay him for doing or teaching 



218 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

whatever he has learned to do that no one else has done. 
"If a man make but a mousetrap better than his fellows, 
though he makes his tent in the wilderness, the world will 
beat a path to his door." 

The mission of this book is accomplished if it interests 
you to consider the possibilities of making a living on a 
few acres and leads you to investigate. It is not written 
as a textbook, for, as has been shown, there are authorities 
enough cited to supply all the technical information needed. 

Its sole object is to show what has been done and what can 
be done on small areas and to show that life in the country 
need not be so laborious if the same methods are used which 
make successes of business in other lines. 

If it does this and is the means of checking in any degree the 
reckless trend of people from the country to the cities, the 
author will feel that his efforts have been well repaid. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE WOOD LOT 

If you have a bit of woods on your little farm, take care 
of it. By intelligent thinning you can make an average 
income of five dollars per acre from ordinary second growth 
wild woods. The cord wood, barrel hoops, fence posts, and 
so on will decrease your expenses, while the timber will in- 
crease in value. That lot is the place to start your boy as 
a forester. 

Instructions how to treat the trees can be obtained from 
your State Forestry Department or from the National 
Forest Service at Washington : the care of growing timber 
is a big subject and requires study, but don't sell your stand- 
ing timber without their advice. Forestry can hardly be 
made to pay on a small lot with hired labor or hired teams, 
— and you must not pay much for your wood lot, else 
interest and taxes will eat up the returns. 

To be of high quality, timber must be, to a considerable 
proportion of its height, free of limbs, which are the cause 
of knots ; it must be tall ; and it must not decrease rapidly 
in diameter from the butt to the top of the last log. In a 
dense stand of timber there is very great competition for 
sunlight among the individual trees, with the result that 
height growth is increased. Trees in crowded stands are 
taller than those in uncrowded stands of the same age. 
When the trees are crowded so that sunlight does not reach 

219 



220 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the lower branches, these soon die and become brittle; 
they then fall off or are broken off by the wind, snow, or 
other agencies. By this process trunks are formed which 
are free from limbs, and hence of high quality. 

It is evident, therefore, that trees in the wood lot should 
be so crowded that the crown or top of each individual 
tree may be in contact with those of its nearest neighbors, 
A crowded stand of trees produces not only a larger number 
but also a greater proportion of high quality sawlogs than 
an uncrowded stand. So vital a matter is their forest shade 
that it does not do to set out young trees which have grown 
in the forest. Ordinarily, the exposure to the sunlight 
stunts them and often kills them. Nursery trees are best; 
the next best are trees that have grown at the edge of the 
woods. 

The actual value of woodland as pasture is small. One 
dollar per acre per year is probably a liberal estimate of the 
value of its forage. Thrifty fully stocked stands of timber 
will grow at the rate of 250 or more board feet of lumber 
per year. Adopting only 250 board feet as the growth and 
assuming the value of the standing timber to be from S5 to 
$8 per 1000 feet board measure, the value of the timber 
growth is from $1.25 to $2 per acre per year. 

If the timber is given good care, moreover, the growth 
should be as much as 500 board feet per acre per year. The 
larger value of the wood lot for growing timber, as compared 
to the value of its forage only, is therefore apparent. 

It must not be thought possible to secure this growth of 
timber and utilize the wood lot for pasture at the same time, 
because the stock eat the seedlings and damage the trees. 

If shade, however, rather than forage is the wood lot's 
chief value to stock, it can doubtless be provided by allowing 



THE WOOD LOT 221 

the stock to range in only a portion of the lot. The remain- 
der can more profitably be devoted to the production of wood 
alone. 

Owners are doubtless in some instances indifferent about 
fires in their wood lots, because they do not realize that these 
may do great harm without giving striking evidence of the 
fact. They burn the fallen leaves and accumulated litter 
of several years, thus destroying the material with which 
trees enrich their own soil. The soil becomes exposed, 
evaporation is greater, and more of the rain and melted 
snow runs off the surface. The roots may also be exposed 
and burned. The vitality of the trees is weakened and 
their rate of growth decreased. Don't burn leaves or waste 
growth : it is dangerous and they are valuable for mulch 
and for manure. 

It has been found in the prairie region that through the 
protection afforded by the most eflicient grove windbreaks, 
the yield in farm crops is increased to the extent of a crop as 
large as could be grown on a strip three times as wide as 
the height of the trees. 

At present the following states maintain nurseries and 
distribute young trees either free or practically at cost to 
planters within the state : Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North 
Dakota, and Kansas. 

The names of nurseries which handle stock of certain 
trees and their quoted prices for all the more important 
species can be secured from the Forest Service, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Whether your wood lot pays a profit or not, like the 
profit from the rest of your land, depends largely on how it 
is taxed. The higher it is taxed the harder it is to make it 



222 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

pay. In most states timberland is assessed on the basis 
of its value, timber and land together. Woodland assessed 
on this basis is overtaxed as compared with land assessed 
on the basis of what it produces each year. The value 
of plowland for farm purposes is established by what it will 
earn. If the owner can make $10 an acre a year over all 
expenses by growing say wheat, corn, cotton or alfalfa on 
it, his land will have a value of perhaps $150 an acre. If it 
took two years to grow a crop, the land would be worth 
only half as much. Its owner in that case would kick vigor- 
ously if he could not get his assessment lowered. He would 
kick still more vigorously if he had to pay a tax also on the 
value of the standing crop, after having to pay too much on 
the land. "The Lord loveth a cheerful kicker." 

With woodland the case is still worse. Each year the 
owner may have to pay a tax on the merchantable crops 
of many past years. It is as though the owner of plowland 
had to pay a tax on the value of his field crops twice a week 
throughout the growing season. When a full-grown tree 
is cut down or burned up in a forest fire, it may have been 
taxed 40 or 50 times over. Each year the land on which it 
grew has been valued not on the basis of its earning power, 
but on the basis of what it would bring if sold, timber and all. 
A tax levied on the income-earning value of the land would 
be much more equitable. 

Certain states have applied this principle by legislation 
under which land to be used for growing timber can be 
classified so that the timber can be taxed separately from the 
land. The land there is taxed annually on its value, without 
timber. The tax on the timber is not paid until the crop is 
harvested. It is therefore a tax on the yield. In New 
York this yield tax is 5 per cent of the value of the crop 



THE WOOD LOT 223 

harvested; Michigan 5 per cent of it; Massachusetts 6 
per cent; and Vermont, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania 
10 per cent, with different provisions for forests already 
established. 

Such a method is much better than that adopted by a 
number of states which exempt, under certain conditions, 
reforested or reforesting lands for a term of years, or allow 
rebates or bounties on such lands. 

The profit of a growing forest crop will depend largely 
on relief from excessive taxation. It is unthrifty public 
policy to discourage putting waste land to work. (" The 
Farm Woodlot Problem," by Herbert A. Smith, Editor 
Forest Service — from Yearbook of Department of Agri- 
culture for 1914.) 



CHAPTER XXIII 

SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 

The Department of Agriculture at Washington, also 
Cornell University and various other schools publish special 
studies and monographs of different branches. For some 
a small charge is made, but they are mostly distributed free. 
Many of them are very valuable. The United States De- 
partment's pamphlet on the Diseases of the Violet is a no- 
table example. The average person does not know how these 
can be obtained or even that they exist. 

The Department's Year Books are most interesting read- 
ing, and both its Professors and the state colleges will answer 
particular questions of citizens. 

These and the various United States and State Experi- 
ment Station publications will serve instead of most books 
(except this one), if properly filed, indexed, and cross- 
indexed so that you can readily turn to all the information 
on a given subject — on bugs, for instance, before the insects 
have harvested your crop. 

I am trying only to suggest things, not to advise, nor to 
induce my readers to try to do anything that they don't 
like or have no capacity for. It is difficult to make people 
understand that. 

One reader of this book, a dear creature, wrote her experi- 
ence for a Crafts magazine. She got the acres, built her 
house, and raised one fine crop of — swans ? nuts grafted 
on wild trees ? partridge berries ? No — three tons of hay ! 

224 



SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 225 

She called it "Three Acres and Starving" ; I called it "Three 
Acres and Stupidity." She didn't eat the hay, and the Edi- 
tor wouldn't publish my reply. 

Everybody raises hay and potatoes ; so don't you raise any 
unless for your own use. 

Potatoes are a laborious crop, requiring constant care, 
manuring, cutting the seed eyes (on which there is much 
uncertain lore), hilling up or down according to drainage 
and rainfall, spraying with Pyrox or dusting with Paris green, 
and, neither least nor last, bug hunting. 

The seed is expensive, but for your own use you may 
plant from whatever seed, otherwise wasted, may grow on 
the potato vine, on the tops of the plants. The crop will be 
small potatoes and all kinds of varieties, which won't sell 
in the market but which make each dinner a surprise party. 
You may strike a new and improved strain, though there are 
over a thousand varieties of potato listed already. New 
creations of merit bring good returns, and 'tis the enter- 
prising experimenter that reaps the honor and the harvest, 
and he is worthy of his reward. 

To select the most productive plants and breed again 
from these is, however, a more promising profit plan. Even 
then don't plant the tubers unless you will take the pains to 
soak the seed potatoes in scab preventer. If you won't, 
likely you will raise mostly scab, and the spores thereof will 
spoil your ground for potatoes for years. 

It costs little in money to make it — half a pint of formalin 
to fifteen gallons of water. Not guessed but measured 
gallons. Then soak for an hour and a half by the Ingersoll. 
Don't reckon that one little hour or a few will do just as well. 
With one hour they will be under-done and spotty, with 
three over-done and weakly. 

Q 



226 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

There is lots to be discovered yet about "the spuds." 
Sawdust is reported an excellent mulch for them, as for 
small fruits. When you store any seeds to plant, put car- 
bolic moth balls with them : it checks insects and mice 
and helps to protect the planted seeds from birds. 

In a general way, with potatoes and with other things 
that you want good and plenty, get specific directions and 
follow them. Most people won't read directions; more 
can't follow them. Those people have their knives out for 
"book farmers and professors," but you can't improve on 
experience and experiment by the light of laziness or of 
nature. 

A delicate jelly is made out of the red outer pulp 
of rose berries. It would be romantic to develop a Rose 
fruit from those seed pods, as the peach was developed from 
the almond. We have invented stranger fruits than that, 
such as the logan-berry and the pomato. 

But there is better chance for profit in doing the old things 
better, especially when the experiment costs little or nothing. 

You can have a strawberry garden on your roof or even 
on a balcony. This need not be costly. Clinch all the nails 
on the inside of a stout barrel. Bore half a dozen two-inch 
holes in the bottom, or put in a layer of stones, for drainage. 
Bore a row of eight holes about eight inches from the bottom 
of the barrel and about eight inches apart. Eight inches 
above this bore a second row of holes "staggered," and a 
third eight inches above those. Pile several old tomato 
cans with perforated bottoms one on the other in the center 
of the barrel : these should be the height of the barrel and 
placed upright in its middle. This is the conductor down 
which water should be poured at intervals before the soil 
gets quite dry. Fill the barrel with soil made of one half 



SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 227 

loam and one half well-rotted manure. Be sure the manure 
is not fresh. A little bone meal is a good addition. 

Now plant the first row of strawberry plants (" ever-bear- 
ing" are best, though they don't ever-bear). Put each plant 
inside, spread the roots, and pull the leaves of each out 
through one of the holes. Press the soil down firmly around 
each root. Repeat the process for the other two rows; 
fill the barrel and set say six plants on the top. That will 
give you thirty plants, which should grow ten to twenty- 
five quarts of fine berries, or more. The illustration makes 
the holes twelve inches apart — for big leafy plants. 

If there are any more, those will be you. Anyhow, you 
will know a lot about strawberries at the end of the season. 
Other things can be grown in the same way. 

Better than growing vegetables, or where dry land can't 
be obtained, is to raise some crop like water cress that usually 
comes from a distance. 

Often an otherwise poor season will help a specialty. 
One year wet weather jumped the price of mint and it 
sold at double prices. Hot, dry weather is required to 
make it produce its best. 

Most of the mint produced in this country for peppermint 
oil is grown in Michigan. More than 4000 acres are reported 
from a single county. Mint oil is worth about $3.50 a pound 
and costs about a dollar to produce. Nice bright dried leaves 
sell for about 15c. a pound. 

The production of mint is sometimes as high as fifty pounds 
of oil to the acre. The bulk of it is grown on marshlands, 
which a few years ago were nowhere worth more than a few 
dollars an acre. The mint is sent to the manufacturers, 
where it is purified and made into flavoring extract or used 
in chewing gum, etc. 



228 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Why should we, with our infinite variety of climates, soils, 
and labor, import from England the coarser varieties of seeds 
of the cabbage family, savoy, Brussels sprouts, kohl-rabi, 
or kale? We owe England enough already for the seed of 
Liberty we got from her. California now supplies some seed 
for onions, carrots, parsnips, and a few others. The finest 
cauliflower comes mostly from Denmark now. 

Turnip seed, too, mangel-wurzel and swedes, onion, pea, 
bean, carrot, parsnip, radish, and beet seeds could be grown 
here by the same skill, care, and training as they are 
grown abroad. 

An interesting method of forcing plants by the use of hot- 
water baths is described in La Nature (Paris), by Henri 
Coupin. The process is much simpler than others now in 
use and may be employed by any one who has a small green- 
house, no expert treatment being necessary. Says Mr. 
Coupin : ! ] 

"Most trees in our countries undergo a period of rest, 
during which all growth appears to be suspended. 
Branches do not enlarge and the buds on them remain as 
they are. They do not arouse from their torpor until spring, 
first, because they then find the conditions necessary for 
their development, and again, because, during the period 
of rest, chemical changes have taken place in them. These 
are indispensable, because if they did not occur, the trees, 
even in the most favorable conditions, would not open their 
buds. For example, plant branches that have quite recently 
dropped their leaves, in a warm greenhouse. They will not 
bud; but make the same experiment at the end of several 
months and the buds will appear. 

"There are several ways of shortening this period of rest, 
some of which are rather odd. The best known is the pro- 



SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 229 

cess of etherification, which has been so much discussed 
recently, and which consists in placing the plants to be 
forced in the vapor of ether or chloroform for twenty-four 
to forty-eight hours. Afterwards when placed in a hot- 
house, the branches begin to develop almost immediately. 

"A very ingenious botanist, Hans Molisch, professor in 
the University of Prague, has devised a method of forcing, 
simpler still and quite as effective. It consists in plunging 
the branches into warm water during a time that varies with 
the species. The best method is to plunge the plants in a 
reservoir of warm water, head downward, without moistening 
the roots, which w^ould injure them. After a certain time, 
the plants are withdrawn, turned right side up with care, 
and placed in a greenhouse, where they develop at once. 

"The duration of the warm bath should be nine to twelve 
hours at most. The best temperature is 30° to 35° [86° to 
95° F.]. . . . That is to say, in the majority of cases, one 
may simply employ the water available in hothouses, which 
is just at the proper temperature. The process is thus at 
the disposal of all gardeners. 

"It should be said that the good effects of the hot baths 
are confined to the parts actually immersed and do not 
extend to the whole plant. Thus, on the same stem we may 
see developing only the branches that have been treated 
with the bath, while the others remain torpid. This is easy 
to verify with the lilac or the willow. 

"If Lobner is to be believed, we may substitute for the 
water bath one of steam. He has obtained good results 
with the lily of the valley. The thing is possible, but the 
method used by Molisch is more practical. 

"How shall we explain the good effect of warm water on 
branches in a resting state ? We are absolutely ignorant of 



230 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

its mechanism, as we are also in the case of etherification. 
But if we knew everything, science would be no longer amus- 
ing!" — Condensed, from The Literary Digest. 

There are many new uses for water: It will not be 
long before every truck and every commercial flower 
garden will have overhead irrigation. This is merely 
gas pipes ("seconds" rejected for blow holes or po- 
rosity are usually used) supported on posts say six feet 
above the ground. They are usually placed parallel about 
fifty feet apart, which will make four to the acre square, 
and have a single row of holes and a handle on each pipe, 
so that the spray can be turned in either direction ; with a 
high-water pressure, often supplied by gravity, they may be 
farther apart with larger holes. 

These not only have saved us from fear of drought, but 
they supply the moisture in the natural manner and at the 
right time and increase fertility to an astonishing degree. 

When you take a shower bath yourself, that is overhead 
irrigation. 

The gasoline, kerosene, or heavy oil one man farm tractor, 
so made that it can be used to plow, to climb a side hill, 
to run a saw or a pump, is the coming factor in garden and 
farm advance. Huge fortune awaits the first manufacturer 
vv ho will standardize it, cheapen it, and specialize on it. The 
horse is the greatest care and the greatest risk on the little 
farm. He costs more than a tractor would, he is eating his 
head off half the time, he can't be worked overtime without 
injury, not even as much as a man can be ; all too soon he 
dies, more missed than any member of the family. 

When this is popularized the "Three Acres" can well be 
extended to five. 




By permission of House and Garden Magazine. 
The Smallest Farm Tractok 



CHAPTER XXIV 

SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 

Fifty-eight years ago Abraham Lincoln said : 
"Population must increase rapidly, more rapidly than in 
former times, and ere long the most valuable of all arts will 
be the art of deriving subsistence from the smallest area of 
soil. No community whose every member possesses this 
art can ever be the victim of oppression in any of its forms. 
Such community will alike be independent of crowned kings, 
money kings, and land kings." 

The future, it seems, has many strange dishes in store for 
the American stomach. Whether you are rich or one of 
the plain people that have to work, whether the idea of new 
fantastic food appeals to your palate or to your pocket- 
book, you will be attracted by the array of foreign viands 
with curious names which have already been successfully 
introduced and are now beginning to be marketed in this 
country. Mr. William N. Taft, in the Technical World 
Magazine, presents the following wild menu for the dinner 
table : 

Jujube Soup 

Brisket of Antelope 

Boiled Petsai Dasheen au Gratin 

Creamed Udo 

Soy Bean and Lichee Nut Salad 

Yang Taw Pie 

Mangoes Kaki 

Sake. 

231 



232 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

This, he assures us, is not the bill of fare of a Chinese eat- 
ing house, nor yet of a Japanese restaurant, it is the daily 
meal of an American family two decades hence, if the De- 
partment of Agriculture succeeds in its attempt to introduce 
a large number of new foods to this country for the dual 
purpose of supplying new dainties and reducing the cost of 
living. Uncle Sam has determined to decrease the price of 
food as much as possible, and, for this purpose, delegated 
Dr. David S. Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer in charge 
of the Foreign Plant Section of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 
in particular, to see what can be done about it. 

More than 30,000 fruits and vegetables have been tested 
by Uncle Sam's experts and, according to Dr. Fairchild, a 
goodly portion of the foodstuffs which have been regarded as 
staples since the days of the first settler are doomed. Con- 
sider for example "Jujube Soup!" Mention that to the 
average person and he will answer : " But I thought the ju- 
jube was a fruit, like an apple. How can you make soup of 
it?" The average person is right. The jujube is a fruit — 
but a most remarkable one. 

"It is about the size and appearance of a crab apple, but con- 
tains only a single seed. It grows on a spiny tree, long and bare of 
trunk, with its foliage cropping out at the very top like a royal 
palm of the tropics. The jujube itself has been used for years to 
flavor candies and other confections. But the essence is very 
expensive and comparatively rare, despite the profusion with which 
the fruit grows in its native habitat. 

"Dr. Fairchild, however, imported several specimens for the 
Department's gardens in California, where they are bearing pro- 
lifically. The arid sands of the southwest, where nothing but cactus 
and sage-brush formerly would grow, have been found to be excel- 
lent soil for the jujube, and it is the hope of Uncle Sam's food ex- 
perts to see the entire Arizona and New Mexico deserts dotted with 
jujube orchards, with income to their owners. The jujube is deli- 
cious eaten raw, but it may be cooked in any manner in which 



SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 233 

apples are prepared, used as a sauce or for pie, preserved or dried. 
Finally, its juice may be used as a delicious and highly nutritive 
fruit broth." 

Petsai, or, as the Chinese have it, Pe-tsai, is a substitute 
for the cabbage. In appearance it is as different from 
cabbage as can be imagined. It is tall and cylindrical and 
its leaves are narrow, delicately curled, with frilled edges. 
The petsai can, however, be grown on any soil where the 
ordinary cabbage could be cultivated and in many sections 
where the native vegetable would languish. We are told 
it is no uncommon thing for a petsai to reach sixty pounds 
in weight. Department of Agriculture officials, how^ever, 
advise that it be plucked when about eight pounds in weight, 
its flavor being then the most delicate and appealing. 

This new importation. Uncle Sam's experts hope, will 
cause a drop in the price of dinners. Cabbage long ago 
ceased to be a cheap dish. But petsai requires none of the 
care which has to be lavished on cabbage and will thrive in 
almost any climate and any soil. 

The soy bean, once started, grows wild and yields several 
crops a season. It can be prepared in a multitude of 
ways, from baking to a delicious salad. According to 
Doctor Yamei Kin, the head of the Women's Medical 
School near Pekin, milk can be made from it to cost about six 
cents a quart and equal to cows' milk. It would be a bless- 
ing if we could get rid of the sacred but unclean cow. One 
of the state dairy inspectors told me, "We consider milk a 
filthy product." 

It may be remembered that, only twenty years ago, 
almost all the dates consumed here came from the oases 
of Arabia and the valley of the Euphrates. To-day there 
are more than a hundred varieties successfully produced 



234 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

in California and Arizona. The wonders of to-day are 
the commonplaces of to-morrow, and there is no telling to 
what apparently impossible lengths science will go to re- 
lieve people of the burden they now bear in the price of 
food. It has scoured the ends of the earth for new deli- 
cacies and now experts will do their best to teach the people 
to use them. 

Have you ever heard of "Whitloof or "Belgian Chicory'^ 
or have you ever dined in one of the better restaurants of a 
large city where they have served during the winter months 
a salad composed of golden blanched oblong leaves about 2 
inches wide and 5 inches long, only the outer edges showing a 
faint green? It is as delicate as the perfume of roses, as 
crisp as young lettuce, as delicious as asparagus, and as 
ornamental upon the table as the freshest fruit. 

In former years this salad had to be imported and you had 
to pay dear for a portion of it, a good reason why so few 
people know it. A Belgian farmer located near New York 
has grown many thousands of these plants this past 
summer. 

How would you like to grow this dainty salad right in 
your living room and cut several crops from a single plant- 
ing lasting nearly three months ? Secure an 8-inch pot and 
plant in it 12 roots packed in light sandy soil or pure sand. 
Invert another but empty 8-inch pot over this to keep out 
the light, place in a heated room, water daily, and in from 
three to four weeks you will find full-grown crowns, beauti- 
fully blanched ready for cutting. Six of such crowns make 
a large portion, sufficient for an entire family. 

In cutting, do not cut too close to the root, for another 
growth is made directly after the cutting, which matures in 
from three to four weeks, and still two other crops can be 



SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 235 

grown in this way, so that from a single planting four full 
crops can be had. Considering, then, that eight such treats 
can be had for the cost of a single dozen roots, we can all 
now enjoy what was formerly a luxury. This method is 
most interesting, for you can watch the daily progress of the 
growth of the roots, fascinating to young and old, and with 
three weekly plantings of a pot each this treat can be en- 
joyed twice a week from the 1st of February until May. 

For those who wish to enjoy it more often or in larger 
quantities, we suggest the following : 

Prepare a bed of soil 12 inches deep in your cellar in a 
dark place where the temperature is always above freezing. 
Plant the roots as close as their size will permit and cover 
the crowns with at least 3 inches of soil. On top of this put 
straw so that when the crowns come through the soil they 
will not strike the light. When ready to cut, remove the 
soil as far back as the original root so that you can intelli- 
gently cut the growth to produce the crops to follow. 

As a substitute for the potato of commerce the "Dasheen" 
long ago passed the experimental stage. It has been served 
at a number of banquets in Washington, Philadelphia, and 
New York. 

While the tops of potatoes are useless as food, the tops of 
the dasheen make delicious greens, and tests indicate that 
good growers can depend on a crop of from four hundred to 
four hundred and fifty bushels per acre. 

The Udo is the plant intended by the Department of 
Agriculture as a substitute for asparagus, a delicacy which 
it closely resembles. It is more prolific than asparagus, 
grows in the same soil, and requires less attention. 

Not only plants but animals are experimented with by 
Uncle Sam's experts. Officials of the Bureau of Animal 



236 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

Industry claim that before long we will partake of antelope 
steak. For the antelope has been found to be particularly 
adapted to the more arid western sections of the country. 
And beyond that the gastronomist of the future will have to 
reckon with loin of hippopotamus ! The lower valley of the 
Mississippi is admirably suited to these huge beasts, the 
flesh of one of which equals a score of cattle. African- 
traveled epicures maintain that hippopotamus steak is as 
tender and inviting as the choicest beef. "For those who 
like that sort of thing, it is just the sort of thing they would 
like." 

It seems a bit remote to urge hippopotamus on us who 
do not yet know enough to eat sharks, tortoises, painted 
turtles, or even English sparrows. Anyhow the small 
gardener is more likely to succeed raising pheasants than 
to muss with a hippopotamus, at least in the suburbs. Pigs 
are more practical and make prettier pets. 

Our population bids fair to approximate two hundred 
million within the next fifty years, and, because of the exi- 
gencies of business, an increasing number of people will be 
engaged in non-food-producing vocations. These people, 
however, are all consumers and must be fed and clothed, 
and even now America offers the greatest market for the 
produce of the farm that any farmer in any country has ever 
had in all history. 

One of the coming ways of feeding them is the discovery 
and use of new foods. As in other things, after the war, 
whether we live in a better world or not, we shall live in an 
entirely different world, new ways, strange thoughts, and 
other foods. For the most of the following. Business 
America and Current Opinion are responsible. 

For the creation of new crop varieties or the improvement 



SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 237 

of those now in use we must depend upon the practical 
scientists who are engaged in plant breeding. The work of 
one of these. Professor Buffum, has been accomplished in a 
region that is apparently sterile and where plants grow 
only by coaxing through artificial moisture. 

His plant-breeding farms near Worland in the Big Horn 
Basin of Northern Wyoming lie at an elevation of 4000 
feet, in a region of almost total natural aridity. 

After twenty years' work in Western agricultural colleges 
and Government Experiment Stations, Professor Buffum 
chose his present location because nowhere in the United 
States could he find conditions of soil and climate that induce 
to such a remarkable degree the breaking up of species, and 
mutation or "sporting" of plants. 

When the modern plant breeder seeks to produce some- 
thing new by cross-fertilization a problem is encountered. 
For many years we were ignorant of the principle upon which 
nature operated in these hybrids or crosses. Finally a 
Bohemian priest named Mendel discovered the law. The 
central principle is that when the seed produced from a 
cross between two different species is planted, the progeny 
breaks up into well-defined groups. A certain percentage 
of the plants resemble one of the parents, a smaller per- 
centage are like the other parent, and the rest seem to be a 
blend of both parents. These intermediates will not breed 
true to themselves, however; if seed from them is planted 
the progeny will split up into groups, showing the same 
percentages as the first generation to which they belonged. 
This has been generally accepted by scientists. 

In many of his productions Professor Buffum apparently 
has set the Mendelian law at defiance, for, by cross-fertiliza- 
tion, he has evolved plants which breed true to themselves. 



238 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

and their progeny does not break up into groups, according 
to the accepted theory. They show specimens resembling 
each parent, with the third composed of seemingly, but not 
really, blended specimens. 

These results are particularly vital in the development of 
plants adapted by selection for semi-arid agriculture. The 
Professor believes that the great areas of high plain country 
to be found from Canada to Mexico can be made more pro- 
ductive through planting crop varieties that have been bred 
to withstand the existing conditions which produce meagre 
returns from the vast expanse of territory under the present 
methods. 

In place of corn, which is difficult to mature even at 
moderate elevations. Professor Buffum has introduced im- 
proved emmers and the various hybrids resulting from 
crosses with other grains. 

Emmer itself is not a new grain, having been grown for cen- 
turies in Russia and southern Europe, and it is believed to have 
been the corn of Pliny, which he said was used by the Latins 
for several centuries before they knew how to make bread. 

Several years ago emmer began receiving attention as a 
stock food. The first planting of the grain at Worland re- 
sulted in some exceptional "sports," seemingly of a different 
type, with coarse straw and very large heads. With this as 
a basis, the seed was replanted and subjected to many experi- 
ments to increase its drouth and winter resisting qualities. 
Continued selections have shown, a yield of from a third 
more to twice as much as corn, that it is thirty per cent 
more valuable than oats for feeding horses, and that for 
stock fattening it is equal to corn, pound for pound. It 
is the most drouth-resistant and prolific of small grains, 
has been successfully raised from Montana to Mexico, and 



SOME EXPERIMENTAL FOODS 239 

is being planted in Louisiana to replace oats because it is not 
affected by rust. 

Some of the yields recorded are enormous, varying from 
40 to 104 bushels per acre under dry farming, and as high 
as 152 bushels under irrigation. 

One stalk of Turkey red wheat was noticed as differing in 
many ways from all varieties, principally that the head was 
over eight inches in length, whereas the ordinary Turkey 
red wheat commonly used in the West has a head of only 
four or five inches. 

From this one stalk has been developed the Buffum No. 
17 Winter wheat. The heavy beards were eliminated and 
the grains or kernels in each spikelet increased from the nor- 
mal number of three to five, seven, and even nine. The 
hardiness of the new variety, together with its remarkably 
large head, means that when it is placed on the market the 
farmers who sow it need not fear winter killing and will 
have a splendid flouring grain, which will produce nearly 
double the average crop per acre. 

It is said that if a single kernel could be added to each 
head of wheat, the increase in annual production of this 
country would amount to over fifteen million bushels. 

If fodder crops can be substituted for a part of the corn 
now used for stock, it will be a great gain. 

In his alfalfa-breeding garden, Professor Buffum is raising 
over seventy different kinds, gathered from all parts of the 
world, showing that the plant is capable of wide variations. 
One hybrid has been obtained by crossing sweet clover with 
alfalfa ; the clover grows wild in every state in the Union. 

There seems to be no limit to man's ingenuity and skill in 
plant improvement. Perhaps sometime we will try it with 
our children. 



240 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

In thirty years an exceptional ear of dent corn, through 
continued planting and careful selection each succeeding 
season, resulted in a few days' shortening of the growing 
period and an increased resistance to the cool nights of the 
higher elevation where it was under improvement; to-day 
this corn matures about the middle of August at an altitude 
of 4000 feet, and has been yielding forty to sixty bushels 
per acre. 



I 



CHAPTER XXV 

DRIED TRUCK 

As a war measure the surplus vegetables in many city 
markets have been forced by the governments into large 
municipal drying plants. Community driers have been 
established in the trucking regions and even itinerant drying 
machines have been sent from farm to farm drying the 
vegetables which otherwise would have gone to waste. 

The drying of vegetables may seem strange to the present 
generation, but we are very young; to our grandmothers 
it was no novelty. Many housewives even to-day prefer 
dried sweet corn to the canned, and find also that dried 
pumpkin and squash are excellent for pie making. Snap 
beans often are strung on threads and dried above the stove. 
Cherries and raspberries still are dried on bits of bark for 
use instead of raisins. 

This country is producing large quantities of perishable 
foods every year, which should be saved for storage, canned, 
or properly dried. Drying is not a panacea for the waste 
evil, nor should it take the place of storing or canning to 
any considerable extent where proper storage facilities are 
available or tin cans or glass jars can be obtained cheap. 

For the farmer's wife the new methods of canning are 
probably better than sun drying, which requires a somewhat 
longer time. But dried material can be stored in recep- 
tacles which cannot be used for canning. Then, too, canned 
fruit and vegetables freeze and cannot be shipped as con- 
R 241 



242 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

veniently in winter. Dried vegetables can be compacted 
and shipped or stored with a minimum of risk. String 
them up to the ceiHng of the storeroom or attic. 

A few apples or sweet potatoes or peas or even a single 
turnip can be dried and saved. Even when very small 
quantities are dried at a time, a quantity sufficient for a meal 
will soon be secured. Small lots of dried vegetables, such 
as cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, and onions, can be 
combined to advantage for soups and stews. 

In general, most fruits or vegetables, to be dried quickly, 
must first be shredded or cut into slices, because many are 
too large to dry quickly, or have skins the purpose of which 
is to prevent drying out. If the air applied at first is too 
hot, the cut surfaces of the sliced fruits or vegetables become 
hard, or scorched, covering the juicy interior so that it will 
not dry. Generally it is not desirable that the temperature 
in drying should go above 140° to 150° F., and it is better 
to keep it well below this point. Insects and insect eggs 
are killed by the heat. 

It is important to know the degree of heat in the drier, 
and this cannot be determined accurately except by a ther- 
mometer. Inexpensive oven thermometers can be found 
on the market, or an ordinary chemical thermometer can be 
suspended in the drier. 

Drying of certain products can be completed in some 
driers within two or three hours. When sufficiently done 
they should be so dry that water cannot be pressed out of 
the freshly cut pieces, they should not show any of the natural 
grain of the fruit on being broken, and yet not be so dry 
as to snap or crackle. They should be leathery and pliable. 

When freshly cut fruits or vegetables are spread out they 
immediately begin to evaporate moisture into the air, and 



DRIED TRUCK 243 

if in a closed box will very soon saturate the air with mois- 
ture. This will slow down the rate of drying and lead to 
the formation of molds. If a current of dry air is blown 
over them continually, the water in them will evaporate 
steadily until they are dry and crisp. Certain products, 
especially raspberries, should not be dried hard, because if 
too much moisture is removed from them they will not 
resume their original form when soaked in water. 

The rotary hand sheer is adapted for use on a very wide 
range of material. Don't slice your hand with it. 

From an eighth to a quarter of an inch is a fair thickness 
for most of the common vegetables to be sliced. To secure 
fine quality, much depends upon having the vegetables 
absolutely fresh, young, tender, and perfectly clean ; one 
decayed root may flavor several kettles of soup if the slices 
from it are scattered through a batch of material. 
High-grade "root" vegetables can only be made from peeled 
roots. 

Blanching consists of plunging the vegetables into boiling 
water for a short time. Use a wire basket or cheesecloth 
bag for this. After blanching as many minutes as is needed, 
drain well and remove the surface moisture from vegetables 
by placing them between two towels or by exposing them 
to the sun and air for a short time. 

A mosquito net is thrown over the product to protect 
the slices from flies and other insects. Fruits and vegetables, 
when dried in the sun, generally are spread on large trays 
of uniform size which can be stacked one on top of the other 
and protected from rain by covers made of oilcloth, canvas, 
or roofing paper. 

A very cheap tray can be made of lath three fourths of 
an inch thick and 2 inches wide, which form the sides and 



244 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

ends of a box, and smoothed lath which is nailed on to form 
the bottom. As builders' laths are 4 feet long, these lath 
trays are most economical of material when made 4 feet in 
length. 

A cheap and very satisfactory drier for use over the 
kitchen stove can be made by any handy man of small-mesh 
galvanized-wire netting and laths or strips of wood about 
J inch thick and 2 inches wide. By using two laths nailed 
together the framework can be stiffened and larger trays 
made if desirable. This form can be suspended from the 
ceiling over the kitchen range or over a clear burning oil, 
gasoline, or gas stove, and it will utilize the hot air which 
rises during the cooking hour. It can be raised out of the 
way or swung to one side by a pulley or by a crane made of 
lath. When the stove is required for cooking, the frame is 
lowered or swung back to utilize the heat which otherwise 
would be wasted. Still another home drier is the cookstove 
oven. Bits of food, left overs, especially sweet corn, can be 
dried on plates in a very slow oven or on the back of the cook- 
stove and saved for winter use. 

Where the electric "juice'' is not monopolized, an electric 
fan in drying is economical, especially for those who already 
have a fan. 

Many sliced fruits placed in long trays 3 by 1 foot and 
stacked in two tiers, end to end, before an electric fan can 
be dried within twenty-four hours. Some require much 
less time. For instance, sliced string beans and shredded 
sweet potatoes will dry before a fan running at a moderate 
speed within a few hours. 

The dried fruit or vegetables must be protected from in- 
sects and rodents, also from the outside moisture, and will 
keep best in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. In the more 



DRIED TRUCK 245 

humid regions, moisture-tight containers should be used. If 
a small amount of dried product is put in each receptacle, 
just enough for one or two meals, it will not be necessary to 
open a large container. 

Your American ingenuity and the American practice of 
reading will show you a lot of ways of saving waste : for 
example, frozen potatoes are not necessarily spoiled, we are 
told by ^Ir. de Ronsic, a writer in the Receil Agricole. They 
may be dried and then cooked as usual. The Revue 
Scientifique (Paris), abstracting the article in question, says : 

"The potatoes must be dried to prevent decomposition, 
which takes place very rapidly after they have thawed out. . . . 

"The oven should be heated as for baking bread. Then, 
when it has reached the necessary temperature, which is 
easily recognized, the potatoes are put in, cutting up the 
largest. They are spread out in a layer so that evaporation 
may easily take place, the door of the oven being left open. 
From time to time the mass is stirred up with a poker to 
facilitate the evaporation. When the drying has gone far 
enough, the potatoes having become hard as bits of wood, 
they are w^ithdrawn to make room for others. 

" Potatoes thus dried may be boiled with enough water to 
make a paste similar to that which they would have furnished 
if mashed in the ordinary manner, and which will answer 
very well, at least to feed stock. The potatoes will be found 
to have lost none of their nutritive value." 

Even if you haven't any acres — yet, there isn't any law 
against drying in the city. Either in sales or in saving it will 
help to pay for the country place later and the country place 
can be made to pay it back again. 

Call your product say "Landers' Desiccated Beans" or 
"Glory's Dehydrated Corn." They will sell better, they 



246 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

may even taste better, trying to live up to the description. 
There's dollars in a name. 

As a preservative ice must not be neglected. The Country 
Gentleman says : 

While the temperature is below the freezing point we 
should take advantage of even short frosts to lay up ice for 
next summer. The man without an ice pond need not be 
without ice — he can freeze it in pans outdoors. An ice 
plant of this sort will cost from fifteen to twenty dollars. 

A double tank should be made of galvanized iron. The 
inner compartment of this tank should be ten feet long, 
two feet wide, and twelve inches deep. The top of the tank 
should be slightly wider than the bottom. The inner tank 
should be divided into six compartments by means of gal- 
vanized iron strips. The double tank should be placed near 
the outdoor pump, or stream, where it can easily be filled. 

Being exposed on all sides, the water will freeze in from one 
hour to three hours. A bucket of hot water poured into the 
space between the tanks will loosen the cakes of ice, each 
weighing 200 pounds. Four tons of ice will last the average 
family a year. The cakes may be packed away in the ice- 
house as they are frozen. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

HOME COLD-PACK CANNING 

To save vegetables and fruits by canning is a patriotic 
duty. The war makes the need for food conservation more 
imperative than at any time in history. America is mainly 
responsible for the food supply of the world. In this way 
the abundance of the summer may be made to supply the 
needs of the winter. 

By the modern cold-pack method it is as easy to can vege- 
tables as to can fruits. Some authorities say it is easier. 
At any rate, it is more useful. 

In the cold-pack method of canning, sterilization does 
away with the danger of spoilage by fermentation or " work- 
ing.'' Sterilization consists in raising the temperature of 
the filled jar or can to a germ-killing point and holding it 
there until bacterial life is destroyed. 

The word " container " is used to designate either the 
tin can or the glass jar. 

Single-period cold-pack canning, as distinguished from 
old-fashioned preserving, offers a saving in time, labor, and 
expense, and satisfactory results. As the foodstuffs are 
placed in the containers before sterilization, they are cold 
and may be handled quickly and easily. Then the steri- 
lization period is frequently short. This is time-saving. 
Finally, no rich preservatives, such as thick syrups or heavily 
spiced solutions, are required. Fruits may be put up in 

247 



248 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

thin syrups. Vegetables require only salt for flavoring and 
water to fill the container. 

Another advantage of this method is that it is practicable 
to put up food in small quantities. It pays to put up even 
a single container. Thus, when there is a small surplus of 
some garden crop, or something left over from the order 
from the grocer's, one can take the short time necessary to 
place this food in a container and store it for future use. 
This is true household efficiency — the kind which, if prac- 
ticed on a national scale, will conserve our war food supply 
and will, after the war, cut heavily into the high cost of living. 

There are five principal methods of canning : (1) the cold- 
pack, single-period method; (2) the intermittent, or frac- 
tional sterilization method ; (3) the cold-water method ; 
(4) the open kettle or hot-pack method; and (5) the 
vacuum-seal method. Of these the one worked out on sci- 
entific lines by leading experts and used by many com- 
mercial canners is so much the best method for home canning, 
because of its simplicity and effectiveness, that it is recom- 
mended by the National Emergency Food Commission and 
the details are explained in their manual. 

The cold-water method can be used effectively in putting 
up rhubarb, green gooseberries, and a few other sour berry 
fruits. The process is simple. The fruit is first prepared 
and washed and then blanched, and finally packed practi- 
cally raw in containers, which are next filled with cold water 
and then sealed. Some sour fruits packed in this way will 
keep indefinitely. 

A serviceable outfit may be made of materials found in 
any household. All that is necessary is a vessel to hold the 
jars or cans — such as a wash boiler or a large tin pail. 
This should have a tight-fitting cover. Provide a false bot- 



HOME COLD-PACK CANNING 249 

torn of wood or a wire rack to allow for free circulation of 
water under the containers. 

While suburban gardeners with large surplus of vegetables 
find it desirable to use tin cans, being more easily handled 
for commercial purposes, most of us find glass jars the more 
satisfactory and economical containers for canned vegetables 
and fruits. This is especially true when there is a shortage 
of tin cans. All types of jars that seal perfectly may be used. 
Use may be made of those to which one is accustomed or 
which may be already on hand. The rubbers must be 
sound but the glass jars may be used indefinitely. Glass 
jars are adapted for use in any of the cold-pack canning out- 
fits. Be sure that no jar is defective. 

For use in the storing of products which are already steri- 
lized, such as jellies, jams, and preserves, and the bottling of 
fruit juices, housewives may practice effective thrift by saving 
all jars in which they receive dried beef, bacon, peanut butter, 
and other products and bottles that have contained olives, 
catsup, and kindred goods. 

Blanching is important with most vegetables and many 
fruits. It consists of plunging them into boiling water for a 
short time. Spinach and other greens should be blanched in 
steam. To do this, place them in an ordinary steamer or 
suspend them in a tightly closed vessel above an inch or two 
of boiling water. 

Blanching should be followed by the cold dip, plunging into 
cold water after removal from the hot water. Cold dipping 
hardens the pulp and preserves the original color, enhanc- 
ing the appearance. Blanching cleanses the articles and 
removes excess acids and strong flavors and odors. It also 
causes shrinkage, so that a larger quantity may be packed 
in a container. After blanching and cold dipping, surface 



250 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

moisture should be removed by placing the vegetables or 
fruits between two towels or by exposure to the sun. 

All this is so simple and the directions so easily followed 
that the average 12-year-old may successfully can vegeta- 
bles or fruits. The steps and the precautions are : 

1. Select sound vegetables and fruits. (If possible can 
them the same day they are picked.) Wash, clean, and pre- 
pare them. 

2. Have ready, on the stove, a can or pail of boiling water. 

3. Place the vegetables or fruits in cheesecloth, or in 
some other porous receptacle — a wire basket is excellent 
— for dipping and blanching them in the boiling water. 

4. Put them whole into the boiling water. The Com- 
mission gives a time-table for blanching. After the water 
begins to boil, begin to count the blanching time; this 
varies from one to twenty minutes, according to the vege- 
table or fruit. 

5. When the blanching is complete, remove the vegetables 
or fruits from the boiling water and plunge them a number of 
times into cold water, to harden the pulp and check the flow 
of coloring matter. Do not leave them in cold water. 

6. The containers must be thoroughly clean. It is not 
necessary to sterilize them in steam or boiling water before 
filling them, as in the cold-pack process both the insides of 
containers and the contents are sterilized. The jars should 
be heated before being filled, in order to avoid breakage. 

7. Pack the product into the containers, leaving about a 
quarter of an inch of space at the top. 

8. With vegetables add one level teaspoonful of salt to 
each quart container and fill with boiling water. With 
fruits use syrups. 

9. With glass jars always use a good rubber. Test the 



HOME COLD-PACK CANNING 251 

rubber by stretching or turning inside out. Fit on the rub- 
ber and put the lid in place. If the container has a screw 
top do not screw up as hard as possible, but use only the 
thumb and little finger in tightening it. This makes it pos- 
sible for the steam to escape and prevents breakage. If 
a glass top jar is used, snap the top bail only, leaving the 
lower bail loose during sterilization. Tin cans should be 
completely sealed. 

10. Place the filled and capped containers on the rack in 
the sterilizer. If the homemade or commercial hot-water 
bath outfit is used, enough water should be in the boiler to 
come at least one inch above the tops of the containers, and 
the water, in boiling out, should never be allowed to drop to 
the level of these tops. Begin to count processing time when 
the water begins to boil. 

At the end of the sterilizing period remove the containers 
from the sterilizer. Fasten covers on tightly at once, turn 
the containers upside down to test for leakage, leave in this 
position until cold, and then store in a cool, dry place. Be 
sure that no draft is allowed to blow on glass jars, as it may 
cause breakage. 

11. If jars are to be stored where there is strong light, 
wrap them in paper, preferably brown, as light will fade the 
color of products canned in glass jars, and sometimes de- 
teriorate the food value. 

That's the whole trick. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

RETAIL COOPERATION 

Cooperation in buying supplies at wholesale, in 
standardizing and shipping crops, in keeping grain in eleva- 
tors, and fruit and some meats and poultry in cold storage 
has reached a high development among the farmers largely 
in the Northwest, much ahead of us "city folks." 

There are more than five thousand active Farmers' Co- 
operation Associations in the United States. Minnesota 
alone has over six hundred cooperative creameries, some of 
which have a laundry annex. The associations have six 
hundred and sixty thousand members and do a business of 
nearly a thousand dollars a year for each member. These 
are the people that we call "hayseeds"; if we could plant 
some more such "seeds," it would be a good job. But in 
cooperative retail domestic supply we are far behind England 
and other countries, even behind Russia. That is partly 
because our better retail business methods leave less room 
for the savings. 

A simple and easy but important beginning of cooperation 
was where each one took turns in delivering the milk and 
fetching supplies. One farmer might do it all every day for 
a small charge. 

The new South is developing a great business in this line. 
When you go to New Orleans look up the stores whose letter 
head reads : 

252 



RETAIL COOPERATION 253 

NELSON CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, INC. 

Food Suppliers 

OFFICE, 506 so. PETERS STREET. CREAMERY, ERATO ST. 
WAREHOUSE, 511 SO. PETERS ST. BAKERY, ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE. 

61 Retail Stores 
4 Meat Markets 

In August, 1917, N. O. Nelson of the above concern 
writes in answer to my request : 

"It does not take 2500 words to tell all I know about 
Cooperation. I trust the inclosed may be serviceable for 
your book, and shall feel proud if it is. 

" I am doing my job here for two very practical reasons ; 
first, the immediate service of reducing the cost of living 
to say 15,000 families, mostly poor; second, to introduce 
economy in retailing. 

" The readers of such a book as yours are well aware of the 
wasteful ways of retailing goods. In every town and city 
there is a multiplication of stores, advertising clerks, teams, 
and other incidentals. 

" Likewise there is a lot of middle men and drummers, the 
buyers at the producer's end, the wholesalers or middle 
men at the consumer's end, with speculator and landowner 
at both ends. All of these have to be supported by the 
system, and the dear consumer pays for it. 

" The Cooperative store system, which was started in Eng- 
land 73 years ago, eliminates most of these waste expenses. 
The system has kept spreading at an astonishing rate ; in Great 
Britain there are now 3| million members, and more than a 
billion of sales a year. Other European countries are full 
of these stores. Many of the retail stores have from twelve 
thousand to fifty thousand members; their sales run into 



254 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the millions. They are federated in a wholesale agency 
which buys for them and manufactures on an extensive 
scale. 

" By the economies thus introduced they are able to save 
regularly about 15 %, besides paying interest on the capital 
employed, and accumulating a liberal surplus. It is simply 
a question of people getting together (all civilization is), 
contributing their own money and their trade, and thus 
avoiding all the waste expenses. 

" It is a very democratic plan ; anybody is welcome to 
join it ; every member has one vote and no more, they elect 
their directors, the directors elect the managers, and the 
managers employ the clerks. They sell at the market prices 
and every three or six months take account of stock and re- 
bate the profits in proportion to each member's purchases, 
with half rate to non-members. 

" It appeals to the economical sense of the ordinary house- 
keeper, and to the ethical sense of those who want no advan- 
tage of their neighbor. It prevents some from getting unduly 
rich and it helps to keep many from being unduly poor. 

" The same principle has spread into farmer's work, espe- 
cially Creameries. In Cooperative Creameries and Stores 
Russia has grown faster in the last 15 years than any other 
country, having at last reports over thirteen million 
members. This orderly getting together for common social 
needs has much to do with the orderliness of the Russian 
Revolution. 

" The United States has made large progress in producers* 
cooperative associations, but not much in stores. 

" I have in New Orleans a system of 65 stores on a modified 
system ; it is a cooperative association but we sell at as low 
prices as can be afforded, for cash in hand. The sales amount 



RETAIL COOPERATION 255 

to about 2j millions, the most of it in the winter. The Asso- 
ciation owns a Bakery, a Creamery, Condiment Factory,^ 
and Coffee Factory, and a 1550-acre plantation. We are 
able to undersell the market about 20 %. 

" People anywhere can make a cooperative store if they take 
it seriously. There should be about 200 members and S2000 
in cash to start with : then get an honest and intelligent 
manager ; start with a grocery, buy and sell for cash, either on 
the Rochdale plan of selling at full market prices and dividing 
the profits periodically, or on my plan of selling as cheaply as 
can be afforded. In either plan it works out into producing 
a large part of the goods sold, thus eliminating entirely the 
superfluous middleman. 

" Three acres and Liberty is the correct way of producing 
a living ; with the adjunct of a cooperative store to do the 
selling of the surplus produced and the buying of goods needed, 
the small farmer is free from all the waste and trammels of 
trade." 

Now what's the matter with your helping your county 
and country and humanity by organizing those two hundred 
waiting buyers in your own town ? You can be the " honest 
and intelligent manager" at a decent salary. If, later, the 
cooperators want another manager, why you can easily 
organize another store. The best information on this subject 
is the Cooperative News, Manchester, England; subscrip- 
tion two dollars. 

Evidence is daily accumulating that the food and farm 
problem is not so easy as many thought it to be a few months 
ago. This is made clear when economists say : "The really 
important question in the food problem is not distribution, 
it is production." It is unfortunate that this statement 
should gain belief at this time, when those who prey upon 



256 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

the producer are watching for any support from whatever 
direction. 

Passing by the obvious fact that production must precede 
distribution, notice that, with all the energy that has been 
devoted to production of farm products by the government 
experts, it is clear that not only is there a shortage, but 
that it has required all kinds of inducements, from the 
President down, to get the farmers to increase their output, 
the most potent of all being the cry of patriotism. 

Some explain this by showing how land monopoly prevents 
men going back to the farms. While this is perfectly true, it 
does not answer the question why farmers now in possession 
of farms are not working them near their capacity. 

The answer of the ordinary man to this is inefficiency on 
the part of the farmer, and up to the present this idea has 
passed as sufficient to account for the situation. The 
publicity given the whole farm question during the past six 
months, however, has to a large extent dispelled the in- 
efficiency answer, as the farmer has responded so completely 
to the call, and the amateurs are beginning to realize that 
there is something in farming besides tickling the earth with 
a feather. All the facts so far brought out show the farmer 
abundantly able to produce all the foodstuffs needed, pro- 
vided he has a reasonable certainty that he will be able to 
dispose of his produce at a price that will give him a fair 
return for his labor. This being the case, it is easy to see that 
putting more men back on farms would not remedy the condi- 
tion we are now in ; but would rather increase the difficulty. 

The fact is, the two blades of grass theory has been exploded, 
the increased production cry has been tried out, carried to its 
logical conclusion, and found wanting, and the inefficiency 
explanation has been proved a falsehood on its face. It is. 



RETAIL COOPERATION 257 

therefore, obvious that with a proper system of distribution, 
the entire question of production will take care of itself; 
but just so long as the producers find it unprofitable to pro- 
duce food, just so long will they have to figure carefully not 
to grow too much, or it would be better for them had they 
grown nothing at all. 

The reason why we have such divergent ideas on this sub- 
ject is that so many people write about it who have had no 
experience in farming, while on the other hand there are few 
farmers who can state the case so the public can grasp the 
most obvious facts. 

Finally, it is a question of the government doing what it 
ought not to have done and leaving undone those things 
it ought to have done. It has granted to a few monopolies 
transportation and terminal facilities which enable them to 
hold up deliveries and thus control prices. The remedy 
lies in seeing that the government attend to its own busi- 
ness, which is securing equality of opportunity for all, and 
special privileges to none. 

It follows that cooperation should not stop either at 
production or at distribution. It must embrace the source of 
both, nor even stop at governmental plans of small holdings. 

As a business enterprise, combining philanthropy and 
percentage, capital has an opportunity. 

Accordingly an option should be secured upon a large 
piece of land not over forty miles from a large city, near a 
railroad station. The transportation at first is not im- 
portant, as the new commuters will make a demand for it, 
and cheap autos will largely fill the gap; it will improve 
rapidly. 

If possible it should have a lake or a fair stream on it for 
irrigation and small water power ; the soil should be examined 



258 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

by experts, to see that it is suitable for trucking and market 
gardening. 

The object should be to make a sort of vacant lot gardening 
plan on a grand scale. Heretofore the trouble has been that 
we have been unable to get land where there was any assur- 
ance that we could have it again the second year, and that 
the limited amount of land makes it impossible to give the 
men as much as they ought to have. They do not need much 
land, because a man working at intensive culture with only 
the rough plowing done for him cannot take good care 
of much more than one acre of land. He will probably make 
as much money out of one acre of land as he will out of two. 
Those who are willing to work should be given one acre of 
land, with the assurance that they can have it as long as they 
work it faithfully and comply with the simple rules which we 
have found so effective in the Vacant Lot Gardening work, — 
which are practically, that a man should attend to business 
and not annoy his neighbors. No contract or lease should 
be given the men, or indeed the women, for both work such 
gardens, as they have been doing for the past twenty years 
in several large cities, making at least a living upon the land 
and often a very large return. 

There must be a competent superintendent, for everything 
depends upon him, who would show the men what land they 
should use, what they should put in, instruct them how to do 
it, and market their products cooperatively. Experience 
in Philadelphia, and in some score of other cities where they 
have established Vacant Lot Gardens, shows that about ten 
per cent annually of the people prefer to work for others, 
and consequently take places in the country after they have 
learned to do market gardening. Some others, being dis- 
satisfied with so little land, and wanting to own their own 



RETAIL COOPERATION 259 

place, go off and buy land or lease it for themselves. This 
makes a constant drain from the gardens, leaving openings 
for others who will learn in time their trade ; it is possible to 
make in this way a steady drain out of the cities to the coun- 
try, and what is better still, an automatic drain. 

The land must be so near to a center of population that 
it may be possible to take a gang of men down there in 
the morning, show them what it is, and send back those who 
do not seem likely to make good, or who are dissatisfied ; and 
that when men get their gardens successfully running, they 
may be able to bring their friends there to see what they 
have done, and say to them, "Go thou and do likewise." 

I have been at Trudeau, Saranac Lake, and at Stony Wold, 
the consumptive sanitariums, and found there both by 
observation and by testimony that to send back the convales- 
cents to the bench or the workshop from which they came is 
practically to repronounce upon them the sentence of death 
from which the sanitarium has offered them a reprieve. The 
only practical thing to do with such convalescents, and with 
such persons who are not capable of their ordinary avocations, 
is to get them in some way upon the land. There is a large 
demand for persons who understand the new intensive garden- 
ing, and places can be found for more than we can hope 
to educate in that line. 

There should be buildings upon the land sufficient to bunk 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty men ; accommodations 
could be made with the small timber for a considerable 
number. Many of these men would need some help, but 
most of them would shift for themselves if only they could get 
the opportunity to build upon the land and to have a secure 
tenure of it. A mere tenant knows that it is bunkum 
when he says "Our Country." 



260 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

It is perfectly practicable to sell about one half of the land 
in a year or two, and have a thousand acres or more left free 
and clear, which will cost the promoters nothing. Renting 
this out or selling it will repay the whole cost, and probably 
bring a large profit besides. 

This is no experiment, it is only to do the thing that we 
have been doing under various conditions with various 
sorts of men in different localities for the past twenty years 
in the Vacant Lot Gardens : namely, to give men the oppor- 
tunity of living upon and cultivating land, putting up their 
own tents, shacks, or bungalows, and giving them such in- 
struction and such help as does not cost anything more 
than the salary of the superintendent. There are abundant 
men who can make good and shift for themselves under those 
circumstances; the men who are available are single men, 
such men as those for whom Mr. Hallimond, a clergyman 
working in the Bowery, has been finding rural employment in 
the past ten years. Also many families will come to us through 
the Vacant Lot Gardens and the Little Land agitation. 

People such as these will increase the land value, for every 
decent man carries around with him at least five hundred 
dollars' worth of increase in land values which his presence 
adds to somebody's holdings of land. The struggle to pocket 
this increase accounts for much of the human drift from the 
field to the factory. 

God made the country ; man made the city — and the 
devil made the suburbs, by the aid of the speculator. 

Alpha of the Plough says in the London Star: "I was 
walking with a friend along the Spaniards-road the other 
evening talking on the inexhaustible theme of these days, 
when he asked, ' What is the biggest thing that has happened 
to this country as the outcome of the war?' 



RETAIL COOPERATION 261 

" ' It is within two or three hundred yards from here/ I 
repHed. 'Come this way and 111 show it to you.' 

" He seemed a Httle surprised, but accompanied me cheer- 
fully enough as I turned from the road and plunged through 
the gorse and the trees towards Parliament Fields, until we 
came upon a large expanse of allotments, carved out of the 
great playground, and alive with figures, men, women, and 
children, some earthing up potatoes, some weeding onion 
beds, some thinning out carrots, some merely walking along 
the patches, and looking at the fruits of their labor springing 
from the soil. * There,' I said, 'is the most important 
result of the war.' 

" He laughed, but not contemptuously. He knew what I 
meant, and I think he more than half agreed. 

" And I think you will agree, too, if you will think what 
that stretch of allotments means. It is the symptom of the 
most important revival, the greatest spiritual awakening this 
country has seen for generations. Wherever you go, that 
symptom meets you. Here in Hampstead allotments are 
as plentiful as blackberries in autumn. A friend of mine 
who lives in Beckenham tells me there are fifteen hundred in 
his parish. In the neighborhood of London there must be 
many thousands. In the country as a whole there must be 
hundreds of thousands. If dear old Joseph Pels could 
revisit the glimpses of the moon and see what is happening, 
see the vacant lots and waste spaces bursting into onion 
beds and potato patches, what joy would be his! He 
was the forerunner of the revival, the passionate pilgrim 
of the Vacant Lot: but his hot gospel fell on deaf ears, 
and he died just before the trumpet of war awakened the 
sleeper. 

"Do not suppose that the greatness of this thing that is 



262 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

happening can be measured in terms of food. That is 
important, no doubt, but it is not the most important thing. 
I am confident that it will add more than anything else to 
the spiritual resources of the nation. It is the beginning of a 
war on the disease that is blighting our people. What is 
wrong with us ? What is the root of our social and spiritual 
ailment ? Is it not the divorce of the people from the soil ? 
For generations the wholesome red blood of the country 
has been sucked into the great towns, and we have built 
up a vast machine of industry that has made slaves of us, 
shut out the light of the fields from our lives, left our children 
to grow like weeds in the slums, rootless and waterless, 
poisoned the healthy instincts of nature implanted in us, 
and put in their place the rank growths of the streets. Can 
you walk through a working-class district or a Lancashire 
cotton town, with their huddle of airless streets, without a 
feeling of despair coming over you at the sense of this enor- 
mous perversion of life into the arid channels of death ? Can 
you take pride in an Empire on which the sun never sets 
when you think of the courts in which, as Will Crooks says, 
the sun never rises? 

" And now the sun is going to rise. We have started a 
revolution that will not end until the breath of the earth 
has come back to the soul of the people. The tyranny of 
the machine is going to be broken. The tyranny of the land 
monopoly is going to be lifted. Yes, you say, but these 
people that I see working on the allotments are not the 
people from the courts and the slums ; but professional men, 
the superior artisan, and so on. That is true. But the 
movement must get hold of the intelligenzia first. The im- 
portant thing is that the breach in the prison is made ; the 
fresh air is filtering in ; the idea is born — not still-born, 



RETAIL COOPERATION 263 

mind you, but born a living thing. It is a way of salvation 
that will not be lost, and that all will travel. 

" We have found the land, and we are going back to possess 
it. Take a man out of the street and put him in a garden, 
and you have made a new creature of him. I have seen the 
miracle again and again . I know a bus conductor, for example, 
outwardly the most ordinary of his kind. But one night I 
mentioned allotments, touched the key of his soul, and 
discovered that this man was going about his daily work 
irradiated by the thought of his garden triumphs. He had 
got a new purpose in life. He had got the spirit of the 
earth in his bones. It is not only the humanizing influence 
of the garden, it is its democratizing influence too. 

' Wlien Adam delved and Eve span 
Where was then the gentleman ? ' 

You can get on terms with the lowliest if you will discuss 
gardens.'* 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 

(Condensed from the Annual Report of the U. S. Depart- 
ment of the Interior of the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion. Vol. 2, now out of print.) 

Berlin has not been boastful of a new sociological feature 
which it has developed within the last fifteen years, a feature 
so revolutionary in its bearing upon education and upon the 
general health of future generations, that it should be made 
known to the world. As yet little has been said about this 
new agency. It may be because it is not a governmental in- 
stitution, but the result of self-help and of the recognition of 
a plain necessity. It may be assumed that if the summer 
colonies had been instituted by the government for the 
great majority who are poor it would not have succeeded so 
well as it has. 

The teachers, seeing that the horizon of their pupils was 
limited by brick and mortar (for open park spaces are rare 
in Berlin), came to the conclusion that only by giving their 
pupils opportunity to live in the open air could they lay a 
sound foundation of knowledge of natural objects and pro- 
cesses as a basis for school studies. The teachers of them- 
selves, however, could apply only palliative remedies, such 
as having sent to them, from the botanical gardens, thousands 
of specimens of plants, twigs, flowers, fruit, etc., for nature 
study in the schoolroom; planting flower beds around the 

264 



SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 265 

schoolhouses ; also, brief excursions into parks, and hanging 
up before the class colored pictures of landscapes and rural 
scenery. 

While in many cases, especially in large cities, the neces- 
sity was recognized of getting the children out of the great 
desert of brick and mortar into the open air and into com- 
panionship with life in the field, the garden, the brooks, and 
the woods, it had nowhere resulted in a systematic effort 
to aid the children of an entire city in that way until it was 
tried in Berlin. Of course it is well understood, not only 
abroad, but in New York and in other large cities of this 
country, that something must be done to alleviate the want 
of space and fresh air, and so recreation piers and roof gar- 
dens are provided, excursions of schools into parks are un- 
dertaken, open-air playgrounds are instituted, and similar 
efforts are made tending to mitigate the evil effects of city 
life ; but all these efforts are merely sporadic or temporary ; 
they do not attack the evil at the roots ; moreover they are 
only drops in the bucket when compared with that which 
is necessary. 

This tendency to cooperative and collective action has re- 
sulted in this particular case in thousands of the children's 
" Arbor Gardens " round about the city. It is an experience 
"en gros," one of such dimensions that cavil ceases and ad- 
miration rises supreme. 

The German poor are very poor indeed, but parents were 
induced to rent, at a price of 4 marks ($1) or about 20 cents 
a month from May to October for the summer season, a 
patch of land in the suburbs of Berlin unfit for farmland 
because cut up by railroad tracks and newly laid-out streets. 
On one of these patches a family might erect an arbor, or a 
small structure of boards with a wide veranda and a cor- 



266 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

rugated iron roof, for housing themselves and children dur- 
ing the summer months. The dwellings are of the most 
primitive kind and rather flimsy; no permanent structure 
can be allowed, for at any time the owner of the land may 
give notice to vacate for the purpose of erecting a row of 
houses, railroad buildings, or other permanent structures. 
The tenants themselves build fences of wire or plant hedges 
to keep the different plots apart. On these patches the 
children, under the guidance of teachers, parents, and ap- 
pointed guardians, began to sow flower seeds, plant shrubs, 
vines, and trees, or raise kitchen vegetables, each group 
or family according to its own desires and needs. Since 
the "arbors" are small they do not decrease the arable land 
of the allotments much, and there is still room left for swings, 
gymnastic apparatus, and similar contrivances, as well as 
bare sandy spots for little tots to play in. The various al- 
lotments are mostly uniform in size and are reached by nar- 
row three- or four-foot lanes, on which occasionally are seen 
probationary officers or guardians who keep the peace and 
settle cases of disturbance. 

The "arbor gardens" are established on every square rod 
of unused land round about the city, on vacant lots, far out 
to the borders of the well-trained woods and royal forests. 
Small tradesmen, laboring men, civil ofiicials of low degrees, 
etc., have found it profitable to forsake their tenements in 
the city and move kith and kin into those "arbor colonies." 
The tenements in Berlin are as bad as in our own big cities, 
only better policed. 

Not all of these arbor gardens are occupied by families 
during the night. Thousands return to their city homes 
evenings. Some parents, unable to free themselves from toil 
in town, send their children under guidance of servants. 



SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 267 

and spend only occasional Sundays and holidays with 
them. 

The people, especially the children, getting some infor- 
mation concerning the treatment of the crops from compe- 
tent advisers in school and out in the arbor colonies, derive 
great good from their horticultural and floricultural work. 
Families who are sesthetically inclined devote their space to 
flowers and trailing vines exclusively; others, utilitarians 
from necessity, plant potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, beans, 
strawberries, and the like. The feeling of ownership being 
strongly developed in the children in seeing the results of 
their own labor, the crops are respected by the neighbors 
and pilfering rarely occurs, except perhaps in a case of great 
hunger. 

Several hundred or a thousand of such patches of land, or 
gardens, situated in close proximity to each other, form an 
arbor colony, which has a governor, or mayor, who is an un- 
paid city ofiicial. He arranges the leasing of the land, col- 
lects the rents, and hands them over to the gratified land- 
owners who don't even have to collect them. There is 
always a retired merchant or civil officer to fill the office, to 
which is attached neither title, emolument, nor special honor. 
He is assisted by a "colonial committee" of trustees selected 
from the colonists, who act as justices of the peace, in case 
disturbances should arise. If colonists prove frequent dis- 
turbers of the peace or are found incapable of living quietly, 
their leases are not renewed. Of course there are such cases, 
but they are rare. 

Since the size of an '^ arbor garden " is from about two six- 
teenths to three sixteenths of an acre, say two or three New 
York City Lots, those forming a colony make a considerable 
community, in which the authority of the committee, or 



268 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

board of trustees, is absolute, and the few cases they have 
had to adjudicate have generally been caused by nagging 
women. It is claimed in the press that these colonists are 
literally without scandals, and that the life led by young 
and old is a most peaceful and happy one. People who are 
hard at work are not likely to be quarrelsome : good whole- 
some food, much exercise in play and labor, and an abundance 
of fresh air and sunshine are conducive to happiness, es- 
pecially as the clothing may be of a primitive kind, or need 
not conform to the dictates of fashion. 

A teacher remarked : " It is noticeable that since these 
school children are engaged in lucrative work which does 
not go beyond their strength, and since they see with their 
own eyes the results of their labor, a sense of responsibility 
is engendered which has a beneficial influence upon school 
work also. Respect for all kinds of labor and a decrease in 
the destructiveness so often found among boys are unmis- 
takable effects of the arbor gardens. It is not easy work 
which the children perform, for spade and rake require mus- 
cular effort; but it is ennobling work, for it leads to self- 
respect, self-dependence, and respect for others, as well as 
willingness to aid others. The most beautiful sight is af- 
forded when, on a certain date agreed on by the members of 
a colony, a harvest festival is held. Then flag raisings and 
illuminations and singing and music make the day a mem- 
orable one." 

Most of the families had not the means to buy the lumber 
and hardware to erect an "arbor," and yet they were the very 
ones to whom the life in the open would be of the greatest 
benefit. Hence philanthropy erected the structures. The 
Patriotic Woman's League of the Red Cross built half of all 
the "arbors" of the colony found on the "Jungfernheide." 



SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 269 

Many colonies reach into the woods, and naturally are of a 
diflPerent character from those in the open, for there tents 
are used instead of wooden structures. For protection during 
the night watchmen pace up and down the lanes; this 
before the war entailed a cost of 7J cents a month to each 
family. The season lasts from May 1 to October 1. 

The school-going population meanwhile attend their 
schools, which used to be reached by means of the elevated 
cars or surface tramways for 2| cents and much cheaper 
if they have commuters' tickets. Many schools are near 
enough to be reached on foot. The children do not loiter 
on the way, but when school is out they hurry "home" to 
begin work in the garden, or to sit down to a meal on the 
veranda, which is relished far more than a meal in a city 
tenement house filled with fetid air and wanting in light. 
Nearly every one of these gardens has a flagpole, and at 
night a Japanese paper lantern with a tallow dip in it il- 
luminates the veranda. These, with flags by day, make a 
festive appearance. The teachers find that city children 
who spend the five months in the open air are well equipped 
with elementary ideas in physical geography and astronomy. 
Their mental equipment is better, indeed, in all fields of 
thought, their physical health is improved, as well as their 
ethical motives and conduct. 

To realize the full extent of these wholesale efforts (for 
put children into close contact with nature and they will 
improve in all directions), it is well to take a ride on the 
North belt line (elevated steam railroad), the trains of which 
start from the Friedrich's street depot and bring one back 
after a ride of an hour and a half. Then one may do the same 
on the South belt line. On these two trips one will see, not 
hundreds, but tens of thousands of such "arbor gardens" 



270 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

full of happy women and children at work or play. The men 
come out on the belt line when their work in town is done. 
The writer was riding through the city on an open cab, and 
seeing hardly any children on the streets and in the parks, 
he asked," How is it that we see no children out?" "Ah, 
sir," was the reply, "if you will see the children of Berlin you 
must go out to the arbor colonies outside of the city. There 
is where our children are." Subsequent visits to these colony 
gardens showed that Berlin is by no means a childless city. 
To judge from the multitudinous arbors to be seen from the 
windows of the belt line cars there must be 50,000 to 75,000 
of them. As far as the eye reaches the flagpoles, the 
orderly fences, and the little structures can be seen; and 
since the city has 2,000,000 inhabitants, it is very likely that 
an estimate made by a city official of several hundred thou- 
sands of children thus living in the open air, is not excessive. 
The most beautiful and best-arranged gardens are not found 
in the vicinity of railroads, but several miles out toward 
the north and the south of the city. Here, where the soil 
is better, fine crops are raised. 

If we turn our eyes homeward and contemplate the many 
thousands of small efforts made in this country toward the 
alleviation of city children's misery, we can say truthfully 
that we in America are perhaps fully alive to the necessity 
which has prompted the people of Berlin to action ; we only 
need to be reminded of Mayor Pingree's potato patches on 
empty city lots, our children's outing camps, our occasional 
children's excursions, and the like. Still, there is nothing in 
this country to compare with the thousands of Berlin 
" arbor gardens " and their singularly convincing force. 
Like a circus, all this is supposed to be for the children, 
though it usually seems to need about two grown people 



SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 271 

to escort each child. The elders enjoy the gardens even more 
than the circus. 

The arbor gardens of Berlin should not be mistaken for 
the numerous "forest schools" (Waldschulen) in Germany. 
These schools "in the woods" are for sickly children, both 
physically crippled and mentally weak. The pupils have 
their lessons in the open, and the teachers live, play, and 
work with them; long recesses separate the various lessons 
and a two-hour nap in the middle of the day out in the 
open is on the time-table of every one of these schools. 
These special open-air schools for weaklings and defectives 
are now found in many parts of Germany, notably in Char- 
lottenburg, Strassburg, and the industrial regions of the 
Rhineland. 

The example of Berlin has been followed in other German 
cities, such as Munich, notably in Diisseldorf on the Rhine, 
where the arbor gardens are called "Schreber gardens" in 
honor of the man who promoted their establishment. There 
is a large colony of such gardens along the Hans-Sachs 
street, where Lima beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, 
and many other garden vegetables are raised ; even straw- 
berries, raspberries, and fruit trees are found here. But the 
city being more lavishly provided with parks and open 
spaces than others of its size, the necessity for open-air life 
has not made itself felt as forcibly as in Berlin. 

And think of the cleansing influence of all this. Light 
and air and labor — these are the medicines not of the body 
only, but of the soul. It is not ponderable things alone that 
are found in gardens, but the great wonder of life, the peace 
of nature, the influences of sunsets and seasons and of all 
the intangible things to which we can give no name, not be- 
cause they are small, but because they are outside the com- 



272 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 

pass of our speech. The God that dwells in gardens is suffi- 
cient for all our needs — let the theologians say what they 

will. 

" * Not God ! in gardens ? When the eve is cool ? 
Nay, but I have a sign — 
*Tis very sure — God walks in mine.' 



> » 



INDEX 



Acre, rented, 2 

size of, 2 

yields, 43, 47, 52 
Agricultural Colleges, 210 

Department, Ass't Sec'y Carl 
Vrooman quoted, 33, 47 
Agriculture for Beginners, 213 
Alfalfa, 222, 239 
Animals, wild, as food, 159, 235 
Apples, 124-180 

culture, 124, 180 

seed experiment in Minnesota, 
214 
Asparagus, 57, 81 
Atlantic Seaboard, 164 

Squab Co., quoted, 115 

Bacteria, nitrogenous, 91 

Bailey, Prof. L. H., quoted, 35, 105 

Balls, carbolic moth, with potato 

seeds, 
Barrel hoops, 122 
Barron, Leonard, 107 
Bats, as mosquito destroyers, 131 
Beans, green, 72 

Lima, 72 

snap, 179 

soy, 233 
Bee-keeping, 116 
Beets, 36, 89 

Berlin's Sociological Bowers, 264 
Birds, fancy breeding, 156 
Blackberries, 130 
Blueberries, 132 

J. H. Hale quoted, 132 
British Isles, vegetation drawbacks, 8 
Buffum's, Prof., plants, 237, 239 
Buildings, sufficient on land, 193, 259 
Bulbs, 214 

experience in Puget Sound coun- 
try — hyacinths and tulips 
Burroughs, Julian, his garden ex- 
perience, 77 



Cabbage, 89 
Canning, 241 

cold pack, 247 

five principles of, 248 

in Maryland, 175 
Cantaloupes, 179 
Carp, domesticated, 152 
Cart, capacity in bushels, 2 
Cat breeding, 158 
Cattle, on small holdings, 4 
Celery, profit and loss, 90 
Cherries, 128, 241 
Chicory, Whitloof or Belgian, 234 
City drift a mere symptom, 1 
Clearing land — dynamite, 183, 191 

away useless trees, 186 
Colonies, summer, for city people, 264 
Containers, glass and tin, 249 
Cooperation, retail, 252 
Corn, 72, 222 

matures, 240 

planting, 214 
Cottage, complete, 198 
Cotton, 222 
Coupin, Henri, on hot water baths 

for plants, 228 
Coville, Frederick V., on grain, 96 
Cows, 41 

Cranberry bogs, 131 
Creameries, 254 
Cropping, companion — main and 

secondary crops, 64 
Cucumbers, 55, 73 
Cultivation, intensive, compared, 2 

best place to carry on, 163 
Currants, 129 

Dasheen — substitute for potato, 235 
Dates, 233 
Delaware, 170 

climate, 172 

game, 173 

home of small fruits, 172 



273 



274 



INDEX 



Delaware, soil, 171 

tax, 173 
Denmark, small holdings, t* 
Diminishing returns, Engel, 34 
Dogs, breeding, 158 
Drier, homemade, 244 
Ducks, 114 

white Pekins for dry sites, 114 

Electric juice, 244 
Emmer in place of corn, 238 
Engel, Dr., on scientific farming, 34 
Ether on plants, 213 

Fairbrother, W. F., on costs and 

products of a garden, 75 
Fairchild, Dr. David S., experi- 
ments in foods, 232 
Farm-hunting, 20 

Farm, minister's, near Philadelphia, 
216 

Bonanza, 6 

worn out or abandoned, 164 
Farmer, Successful, quoted, 54 
Farming, book, 82 

fox, 160 

fur, 160 
Fertilizers: manure, 87 

nitrate of soda, 89, 90 

nitrogen, 88 
Fish, bass as food, 154 

bass as game, 153 

shell, 159 

trout, 153 
Flowers, 134 

bulbs, 214 

Maryland, 176 

prices, 139 
Foods, experimental, 231 
Forestry information, where avail- 
able, 219 
Fox farming, 160 
Free Acres, 196 

Freight rates, competing, 14-15 
Frogs, feeding for food, 151 
Fullerton, Edith Loring, 184 

Garden Primer, 29 

Gardens, arbor, in Germany, 265 

products, 271 

workers, 270 
Gardens, beginner in market, 98 

kitchen, 70 



Gardens, market, 81, 82 

requisites for, 9 

roof, 8 

vacant (city) lot, 9 

war, 211 
Ginseng, 144 
Goats, Angora, 191 

clearing the land, 191 
Golden Seal, medicinal weed, 143 
Gooseberries, 129 
Grapes, arbor, 127 
Green beans, 72 
Greenhouses, cheap and dear, 107 

Hares, 116 

Hartman, D. L., on strawberries, 53 

on various products, 60 
Hemp, as land clearer, 190 
Herb, importation, 148 

report, 147 

time for collecting, 146 
Hiring help, advantages of, 38 
Homecrofters' Guild, Watertown, 

Mass., 206 
Honey, a business, 118 
Hotbeds, 102, 103 

cost of, 104-106 
Houses, Aladdin, 197 

cement blocks, 199 

portable, 197 
Huckleberry, the untameable, 132 
Hundred Year Club, G. W. Smith, 

203 
Hunn, on garden advice for beginner, 
73 

Ice, procuring and preserving, 246 
Immigrants, advantages by remain- 
ing East, 176 
Immigration to the South, 15 
Irrigation, costly, 92 

overhead, 230 
Italy, destruction of agricultural, 41 

Japanese intense culture, 76 
Jelly, pulp rose berries, 226 
Jersey, wonders of Island of, 7, 8 
Jujube (fruit), 232 , 

Labor, lack of, 180 
Land, amount of space needed to feed 
family, 37 



INDEX 



275 



Land, back to the, 200 
fertility, 85 
idle, abundance of, 14 
low priced, 17 

Landreth, Burnett, quoted, 210 

Langdon, A. L,, in "Real Estate 
Record and Guide," on Long 
Island, 166 

Lettuce, 179 

"Liberty and a Living," quotation 
from, 39, 40 

Lima beans, 72 

Living conditions before the Civil 
War, different, 12 

London Daily News, report of crops, 66 

Long Island, northeastern, coop- 
erative features, 61 

Lumber, prices, 183 

Macaroni, introduction of, to this 
country, 213 

wheat, 213 
Maine, climate — products, 181 
Manure, 103 
Maryland, 173 

canning, 175 

flowers, 175 

State Bureau of Immigration, 176 
Maynard, Prof. S. T., quoted, 125 
Maxwell's Talisman, teaching farmers 

to profit from land, 212 
Milk, to be rid of, 233 
Milkweed, its use, 150 
Mint, production and sale, 227 
Mississippi Valley transportation, 15 
Montana, good crops without irri- 
gation, 97 
Mushrooms, varieties, 120 

National Emergency Food Com- 
mission, 71, 248 

Nelson, N. O., on "The Cooperative 
Store System," 253 

New Jersey, fertile, 168 

New Orleans, cooperative stores, 253 

Nitrogen, meat marker, 71 
fertilizer, 88 

Nuts, grown for commercial use, 132 

Onions, 72 

Oppenheimer, Franz, on equal di- 
vision of land, 42 
Osage Orange, edible, 150 



Peanuts, culture and uses, 59 

Farmers' Bulletin 25, U. S. Dept. 
Peas, 72 

Petsai, substitute for cabbage, 233 
Pigs, profit in, 236 
Plant breeding, 237 
Planting fruit trees, 74 
Plants, delicate, 86 
Pleasures in rural homes, 123 
Pond hlies as a crop, 76 
Potatoes, advantages, 84 

dried, 245 

sawdust as mulch, 226 

scab prevention, 225 

Scotland, 215 

spraying, 97 

walks to cultivate, 2 

yields, 2 
Poultry, feed, 114 

raising. 111 
Powell, Geo. T., quoted, on cherries, 

128 
Practical experience, 224 
Profession, coming, for boys, 208 
Publications, miscellaneous, 224 
Pumpkins, 73 

Quails, barnyard, 161 

Radishes, 72 

Railroads, teaching farming, 211 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 

Railway Co. lectures, 211 
Raspberries, 130, 241 
Rhubarb, 81 
Roberts, Prof., on advantages of 

study, 40 
Ronna, Prof., on figures on crops per 

acre, 47 
Roots, burdock, 147 

Sawdust as mulch for potatoes, 226 
School window garden boxes, 44 

at Yonkers, 77 
Shack of logs, 195 
Silkworm, a possibility, 157 
Skunk farming, 161 
Snail, raising for the table, 156 
Snakes as food, 159 
Soil inoculation, 90 
Southern States, development, 165 



<r 



276 



INDEX 



Spinach, 179 
Squab for profit, 115 
Squash, 73 
Sterilization, 247 
Stock, live, 151 
Stove, Franklin, 197 
Strawberry, 53, 130 

garden on roof, 226 

yield, 175 
Stumps, to burn out, 184 
Sugar factory, 36 
Sunflower, seed industry, 58 
Swamp land uses, 164 

Taft, Wm. N., "Technical World 

Magazine," Menu, 231 
Tea, experience in So. Carolina, 215 
Tents, as a makeshift, 193 
Texas, land offer, 206 
Thistles, riddance of, 190 
Timber, 219 

miscellaneous state taxes, 222 
Time for sowing seed, 62 

crops are ready, 63 
Title, perfect — secured, 172 
Toads, their value, 131 
Tobacco, 181 

Connecticut, 176 

Maryland, 175 

Ohio, 59 

Pennsylvania, 59 
Tomato, 60, 89, 175 

culture, 102 
Tools and equipment, 79 
Tractors instead of horses, 230 
Trees, 219 

advantages, 184 

pine, 195 

States that distribute young trees, 
221 
Trout, domestic, 153 
Truck, dried, 241 
Turtles, profitable, 152 

Udo as substitute for asparagus, 235 
U. S. Fish Commissioners' report, 151 

Vacant lot cultivation, 9, 22, 75, 
258, 260 



Vacant lot experience, 38 

gardeners, 259 
Vegetables, blanching, 243, 249 

cabbage, 32 

drying, 241, 242 

miscellaneous, 89 

peas, 32 

principles of vegetable gardening, 
105 

wild, 149 
Virginia, 176 

climate, 177 

tobacco, 179 

War, result to land, 261 
Water supply, 194 

transportation, 100 
Weed killer, hemp as, 190 
Wells, artesian, 189 
Wheat, 97, 163, 222, 239 

Buffum No. 17 Winter wheat, 239 

Turkey red wheat, 239 

yielded in various states, 6 
Wheel hoe, a blessing, 80, 190 
Wilcox in "Farming," 213 

durum or macaroni, 213 
Wild herbs, fruits, and roots, 215 
Windows, double, 197 
Wood, Samuel, quoted, "Gardening, 

Multum in Parvo," 66 
Woodchuck, a dainty, 159 
Woodland, products in board meas- 
ure, 220 
Wood lots, 219 

fires, 221 

taxes, 221, 222 

Yield, apples, 180 

beans, snap, 179 

cantaloupes, 179 

emmer, 239 

lettuce, 179 

mint, per acre, 227 

spinach, 179 

strawberries, 175 

tomatoes, 175 
Youth, in tenements, 208 

on farms, 209 



I 



Printed in the United States of Azuerioa. 



T 



HE following pages contain advertisements of a 
few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 



Around the Year in the Garden 



By FREDERICK F. ROCKWELL 



JVitk many illustrations. 
Decorated cloth, i2j?io, $i. 75 



The practical quality of this book, its unpretentious- 
ness, will appeal to the amateur who is too frequently 
frightened away from a volume of this character by 
elaborate directions and the seeming necessity of ex- 
pensive equipment. The author treats of those prob- 
lems which come up in the different months of the 
year, the solution of which is of the utmost importance 
if the gardener is to be successful in his various at- 
tempts. Many perplexing questions are answered and 
much sound information given on every phase of gar- 
den making, from the preparation of the soil to the 
pruning and care of the plants and shrubs. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

FublisherB 64-66 Fiftb Avenue New Tork 



Farm and Garden Rule Book 

By L. H. bailey 

Price, $2.00 

A handbook of ready rules and reference, with 
recipes, precepts, formulas, and tabular information for 
the use of the farmer and the gardener. 

This work is arranged for ready reference. It is 
essentially a small cyclopedia of ready rules and refer- 
ences packed full from cover to cover with condensed, 
meaty information and precepts on almost every leading 
subject connected with agricultural life. There are 
about thirty chapters in the volume, beginning with the 
weather, closing with directories and covering such other 
subjects as soils, fertilizers, planting tables, seed tables, 
greenhouse work, crops for special purposes, commer- 
cial grades of grain, farms, fruits, flowers, live stock, 
forests, forest products, weeds, insects and all kinds of 
pests, fungus diseases and remedies, feeding rations, 
poultry rules, animal parasites, dairy work, farm ma- 
chinery, capacities of tanks, bins, and mows. 

An admirably arranged index allows instant reference 
to any subject of interest. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



My Growing Garden 

By J. HORACE McFARLAND Color illustrations, $2.25 

A book filled with suggestions and practical advice. The his- 
tory follows through the cycle of the year, devoting a chapter to 
each month's changes in the growing garden. Remarkable photo- 
graphic illustrations by the author. 

" One of the most dehghtful garden books of the year ... al- 
together unique. The garden is truly a home garden, an intimate 
part of the author's Ufe." — • Countryside Magazine, 

" The book is well printed. The many pictures, some of them 
finely colored, are of unusual quality. The book smells of the 
garden. A record of unflagging enthusiasm and successes and 
failures. Admirably written, good to read aloud, and brimming 
over with love of flowers and vegetables and trees. It carries the 
feeHng of being written by a man rather than a woman, and yet a 
man who has all a woman's sensitiveness to beauty. For sugges- 
tiveness and the inspiration of joy in the garden this book cannot 
be surpassed in the long hst of garden books. It has the unusual 
merit of a very full index. The author knows what the garden 
supplies that is good for the table, as well as the wealth of flowers 
it affords." — The Independent. 

" The pleasures of amateur horticulture have seldom been so 
alluringly depicted as by Mr. J. Horace McFarland in this chatty 
and familiar record of his own experience on a modest urban, or 
perhaps we should say suburban, estate at Harrisburg, Pa. It is 
a natural growth, this book of his, rather than a product of cold 
calculation. *I have written it,' he says, *but my family have 
lived it with me, and the print-shop which bears my name and 
enjoys my garden has made of the book much more than a per- 
functory item of work. The publishers, too, have let down the 
bars, so that in a very special sense the book has been lived, writ- 
ten, designed, illustrated, printed, and bound as the work of one 
man and those about him.' " — ■ The Dial. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avonue New Tork 



The Farm Woodlot 

By E. G. CHEYNEY 

Director of the College of Forestry of the University of Minnesota 

And J. G. WENTLING 

Associate Professor of Forestry of the University of Minnesota 

Illustrated. Cloth, i2mo, $1.75 

The whole subject of raising forests and producing 
timber as a part of a farming business is covered in this 
book. Here will be found fully treated such topics as 
the rise of forestry knowledge in relation particularly 
to agriculture, forest influences, forest economics, the 
growth of the tree, the kinds of trees and the means of 
distinguishing them, the regeneration of the woodlot, the 
practical propagation of trees, methods of planting and 
thinning, the production of the forest, the best utilization 
of forests, the durability and preservation of timber. 
There are also included tables of interest to lumbermen 
and a chapter on ornamental planting. The volume is 
well illustrated, the illustrations alone largely explaining 
forest practices and making evident the differences in 
trees. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tork 



The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OVER 500 COLLABORATORS 

New edition, entirely rewritten and enlarged, with many new features; with 
24 plates in color, 96 full-page half tones, and over 4,000 text illustra- 
tions. Complete in six volumes. Sold only in sets. 



Sei cloth, $36.00 Leather, $60.00 



"The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture," pronounced by ex- 
perts to be an absolute necessity for every horticulturist and of 
tremendous value to every type of gardener, professional and ama- 
teur, is completed. " An indispensable work of reference to every 
one interested in the land and its products, whether commercially or 
professionally, as a student or an amateur," is the Boston Transcripfs 
characterization of it, while Horticulture adds that " it is very live 
literature for any one engaged in any department of the horticultural 
field." 

" This really monumental performance will take rank as a stand- 
ard in its class. Illustrations and text are admirable. . . . Our 
own conviction is that while the future may bring forth amplified 
editions of the work, it will probably never be superseded. Recog- 
nizing its importance, the publishers have given it faultless form. 
The typography leaves nothing to be desired, the paper is calcu- 
lated to stand wear and tear, and the work is at once handsomely 
and attractively bound." — New York Daily Tribune. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Ayenue New York 



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